Toughening of Epoxy Resin through Blending with Furan Resin

A method to toughen epoxy resin by furan resin is presented in this work. First, poly(furfuryl alcholol) resin was synthesized, then, epoxy resin was mixed by various amount of the furan resin and they were cured by diethylene thiamine (DETA). Curing both of resins were happened by the amine hardner. While both of the initial resins were brittle, they were converted to highly toughen thermosetting materials after curing. Fracture toughness and flexural tests were performed for toughening effects furan resin loading on epoxy matrix. Clearly, fracture toughness of epoxy resin in terms of critical-stress-intensity factor, KIC that increased 60%, comparison to neat epoxy. The results of flexural tests showed that entering furan resin into epoxy networks can toughen the epoxy without sacrifice its flexural strength and modulus. This data confirmed the fracture toughness results.