Study of the spatio-chemical heterogeneity of tannin-furanic foams: from 1D FTIR spectroscopy to 3D FTIR micro-computed tomography

Tannin-furanic rigid foams are bio-based copolymers of tannin plant extract and furfuryl alcohol, promising candidates to replace synthetic insulation foams, as for example polyurethanes and phenolics, in eco-sustainable buildings thanks to their functional properties, such as lightness of the material and fire resistance. Despite their relevance as environmental-friendly alternatives to petroleum derivatives, many aspects of the polymerization chemistry still remain unclear. One of the open issues is on the spatial heterogeneity of the foam, i.e., whether the foam constituents prevalently polymerize in spatially segregated blocks or distribute almost homogenously in the foam volume. To address this matter, here we propose a multiscale FTIR study encompassing 1D FTIR spectroscopy, 2D FTIR imaging and 3D FTIR micro-tomography (FTIR-µCT) on tannin-furanic rigid foams obtained by varying the synthesis parameters in a controlled way. Thanks to the implementation of the acquisition and processing pipeline of FTIR-µCT, we were able for the first time to demonstrate that the polymer formulations influence the spatial organization of the foam at the microscale and, at the same time, prove the reliability of FTIR-µCT data by comparing 2D FTIR images and the projection of the 3D chemical images on the same plane.