Viscosity, pH, and moisture effect in the porosity of poly(furfuryl alcohol)

The poly(furfuryl alcohol) is highly indicated to obtain advanced carbonaceous materials due mainly to its good carbon yield (around 50%) and a controllable cure reaction. In the processing of some carbonaceous materials, such as monolithic vitreous carbon, it is necessary to make sure that the material has the smallest porosity to be used in nobler applications such as heart valves and aerospace integrated systems. In this manuscript, a design of experiments was used to study the influence of viscosity, pH, and moisture in the porosity of the cured material. This study shows that the moisture exerts a significant influence on the porosity and the trend of the results lead to conclude that lower viscosity and moisture, and the use of non-neutralized poly(furfuryl alcohol) resins lead to obtain materials with better quality. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.