Fly ash (FA)/general purpose unsaturated polyester resin (GPR) particulate composites were made. The effect of the surface treatment of FA with two different silane coupling agents (CAs) on the mechanical properties, such as the tensile, flexural, compressive, and impact strengths and hardness, of FA-GPR composites were studied. The properties of FA-CA-GPR were also compared with that of GPR and CaCO 3 -GPR. An enhancement in the tensile, flexural, compressive, and impact strengths and a decrease in the tensile and flexural moduli were observed when FA was surface treated with CA. Hardness also increases with CA-treated FA.

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Tricomponent interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) systems involving castor oil, toluenediisocyanate (TDI), acrylonitrile (AN), ethylene glycol diacrylate (EGDA), and general-purpose unsaturated polyester resin (GPR) were prepared with various compositions. The structures of the IPNs at various stages were confirmed using FTIR. The thermal stability of the IPNs was studied using TGA, which indicated that the polyurethane/polyacrylonitrile/GPR (PU/PAN/GPR) IPN underwent single-stage decomposition, showing perfect compatibility at the IPN composition of 10 : 90 (PU/PAN : GPR). The mechanical properties such as tensile, flexural, impact, and hardness for the IPNs with various compositions were determined. It was found that the tensile strength of the GPR matrix was decreased and flexural and impact strengths were increased upon incorporating PU/PAN networks. The swelling properties in water and toluene were also studied. The morphology of the IPNs was studied using SEM. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 817-829, 2004