An exponential chemorheological model for viscosity dependence on degree-of-cure of a polyfurfuryl alcohol resin during the post-gel curing stage

Abstract

In the present study, the chemorheological behavior of a bio-based polyfurfuryl alcohol (PFA) resin has been determined by rheological isothermal tests at different curing temperatures for the post-gel curing stage of the resin, using three different amounts of catalyst (2, 4 and 6 wt %). Instead of modeling the evolution of the complex viscosity using a widely used chemorheological model such as the Arrhenius model for each tested temperature, the change of the complex viscosity as a function of the degree-of-cure was predicted using a new exponential type model. In this model, the logarithm of the normalized degree-of-cure is used to predict the behavior of the logarithm of the normalized complex viscosity. The model shows good quality of fitting with the experimental data for 4 and 6 wt % amounts of catalyst. For the 2 wt % amount of catalyst, scattered data leads to a slightly lower quality of fitting. Altogether, it is demonstrated that the new exponential model is a good alternative to conventional chemorheological models due to its simplicity and suitability.