Effect of Coupling Treatment and Nanoclay on the Properties of Bamboo Flour-Filled High Density Polyethylene Composites

摘要

Introduction The global wood plastic composites (WPC) market reached 771 million kg in 2003. The market has been experiencing double digit growth since 2003 and a similar trend is projected up to 2010. With increasing wood costs and competition of wood resources from traditional wood sectors, seeking alternative fiber sources for WPC manufacturing is urgently needed. Bamboo has excellent mechanical properties in comparison with its weight thanks to longitudinally aligned fibers. However, such superior mechanical properties have not been well recognized for the polymer composites. Performance of bamboo plastic composites depends largely on fiber quality, fiber-matrix interface, and fiber-polymer mixing ratios. Poor attraction and low interracial bonding between the hydrophilic bamboo fibers and hydrophobic polyolefin limit the reinforcement imparted to the plastic matrix by the fiber component. Limited research has studied the inteffacial adhesion through chemical coupling in bamboo polymer composites. In recent years, the impressive enhancement of material properties achieved with nano particles in polymer has stimulated active research in this field. Silicate nanocomposites exhibit dramatic increase in modulus, strength, flammability and heat resistance compared to conventional composites. For fiber-based composites, synergetic effect between clay and coupling agent often needed to disperse the clay particles. So far, little work has been done on the properties of bamboo reinforced plastic composites with nanoclay particles in combination with coupling agents. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using bamboo as a reinforcement material for HDPE composite and to study the effect of coupling agent and nanoclay on thermal and mechanical properties of the material.