Effect of wood treatment and coupling agent content on the mechanical properties of wood/polyethylene composites

摘要

This study investigates the effect of wood treatment, as well as coupling agent content and loading procedure on the mechanical properties of wood/polymer composites. In particular, wood flour and wood fibre were combined with high density polyethylene to produce WPC. Wood flour was prepared from a knife mill, while wood fibres were made through refining in a pressurized refiner. WPC compounding was completed with a twin-screw extruder at 40% wood by weight with different amounts of coupling agent, and then diluted to make 20% and 10% fiber content from the 40% wood fiber master-batch. The compounds were finally compression molded to produce rectangular plates. The WPC was characterized by tensile modulus, strength and strain at break. The results showed that different wood treatments and their formats (wood fibre and wood flour), as well as different loading technologies and coupling agent content had significant impact on the tensile properties of the WPC.