Novel wood-plastic composite fabricated via modified steel slag:Preparation,mechanical and flammability properties

A novel method was developed to enhance the utilization rate of steel slag(SS).Through treatment of SS with phosphoric acid and aminopropyl triethoxysilane(KH550),we obtained modified SS(MSS),which was used to prepare MSS/wood-plastic composites(MSS/WPCs)by replacing talcum powder(TP).The composites were fabricated through melting blending and hot pressing.Their mechanical and combustion properties,which comprise heat release,smoke release,and thermal stability,were systematically investigated.MSS can improve the mechanical strength of the composites through grafting reactions between wood powder and thermoplastics.Notably,MSS/WPC#50(16wt%MSS)with an MSS-to-TP mass ratio of 1:1 exhibited optimal comprehensive performance.Compared with those of WPC#0 without MSS,the tensile,flexural,and impact strengths of MSS/WPC#50 were increased by 18.5%,12.8%,and 18.0%,respectively.Moreover,the MSS/WPC#50 sample achieved the highest limited oxygen index of 22.5%,the highest vertical burning rating at the V-1 level,and the lowest horizontal burning rate at 44.2 mm/min.The formation of a dense and stable char layer led to improved thermal stability and a considerable reduction in heat and smoke releases of MSS/WPC#50.However,the partial replacement of TP with MSS slightly compromised the mechanical and flame-retardant properties,possibly due to the weak grafting caused by SS powder agglomeration.These findings suggest the suitability of MSS/WPCs for high-value-added applications as decorative panels indoors or outdoors.

Effects of two modification methods on the mechanical properties of wood flour/recycled plastic blends composites: addition of thermoplastic elastomer SEBS-g-MAH and in-situ grafting MAH

The effect of maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene- buty-lene-styrene block copolymer （SEBS-g-MAH） and in-situ grafting MAH on mechanical, dynamic mechanical properties of wood flour/recycled plastic blends composites was investigated. Recycled plastic polypro-pylene （PP）, high-density polyethylene （HDPE） and polystyrene （PS）, were mixed with wood flour in a high speed blender and then extruded by a twin/single screw tandem extruder system to form wood flour/recycled plastic blends composites. Results show that the impact properties of the composites were improved more significantly by using SEBS-g-MAH compatibilizer than by using the mixtures of MAH and DCP via reactive blending in situ. However, contrary results were ob-served on the tensile and flexural properties of the corresponding com-posites. In General, the mechanical properties of composites made from recycled plastic blends were inferior to those made from virgin plastic blends, especially in elongation break. The morphological study verified that the interfacial adhesion or the compatibility of plastic blends with wood flour was improved by adding SEBS-g-MAH or in-situ grafting MAH. A better interfacial bonding between PP, HDPE, PS and wood flour was obtained by in-situ grafting MAH than the addition of SEBS-g-MAH. In-situ grafting MAH can be considered as a potential way of increasing the interfacial compatibility between plastic blends and wood flour. The storage modulus and damping factor of composites were also characterized through dynamic mechanical analysis （DMA）.

Physicomechanical Properties of Sustainable Wood Plastic Composites of Tropical Sawdust and Thermoplastic Waste for Possible Utilization in the Wood Industry

This work investigated and quantified the physicomechanical properties of flat-pressed wood plastic composites produced with recycled polyethylene terephthalate, recycled polyethylene and sawdust derived from selected tropical timbers, namely, Nauclea diderrichii, Brachystegia eurycoma, Erythrophleum suaveolens and Prosopis africana, for possible utilization in the wood industry. The compounding of the polymer blends of the precursor plastics, namely recycled PET (rPET) and recycled PE (rPE) with the sawdust (SD) from the selected timbers to produce the desired wood rPET/rPE composites was carried out via the flat press method. The characterization of the physicomechanical properties of the wood plastic composites (WPCs) produced, such as the density, hardness, flexural strength, ultimate tensile strength, elongation %, thickness swelling and water absorption capacity was carried out using methods based mainly on the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standards. The results of the investigation on the resultant composites indicated that changes in the SD content affected the density of flat-pressed WPCs in line with literature. Generally, it was observed that as wood dust increased and PET content decreased, the density of composites decreased with some deviations as expected probably due to the anisotropic nature of the wood fillers. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there was a statistically significant variation in the wood composites of Nuclea diderichii based on the physicomechanical values as the p-value (0.020) obtained was less than the critical level of α = 0.05. It was also observed that the composite, Wood 1 Sample 5 (W1S5) which was composed of 40% rPE, 40% rPET and 20% SD (derived from Nuclea diderichii), had the highest percentage elongation (26.84%);the highest flexural strength (14.995 N/mm2) and possibly the least carbon footprint in the environment. These properties of W1S5 suggest that it could therefore be the best option for the production of building materials like ceiling boards or floor skirting in the wood plastic composite industry. The results of these investigations have therefore indicated that the fabrication of WPCs from sawdust and rPET/rPE was technically feasible and had prospects for large scale production in the wood industry.

Preliminary study of the effects of EVA coupling agents on properties of wood-plastic composites

As a hot-melt adhesive, ethylene-vinyl-acetate （EVA） has been used in many industrial applications. But studies of the application of EVA in wood-plastic composites （WPC） are relatively few, so we have investigated the proposition of whether EVA is a suitable coupling agent for WPC or not. The results show that EVA with 8% VA is not a suitable coupling agent, because it reduces the mechanical properties of WPC without any significant effect on its physical properties. With an increase in the amount of wood powder, the mechanical properties of WPC decrease and the ability of water absorption of WPC increases.

Mechanical properties of wood flour/recycled-thermoplastic-blends composites

The mechanical properties of composites prepared from wood flour and thermoplastic blends were investigated. Thermoplastic mixtures of polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polystyrene (PS), virgin or recycled, were mixed with wood flour in a high speed blender and then extruded by a specially designed twin/single screw extruder system to form wood-flour/thermoplastic-blends composites (WTBCs). Comparative studies were made to evaluate the effectiveness of the two modification methods of the thermoplastic blends, the one of the addition of maleic anhydride grafted styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS-g-MAH) as compatibilizer and the other of blend grafting of maleic anhydride (MAH) using dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as initiator by reactive extrusion. The results showed that the impact properties of WTBCs using SEBS-g-MAH as compatilizer were better improved than that of the blend grafting. However, adverse results were observed on the tensile and flexural properties of the corresponding WTBCs. The mechanical properties of WTBCs prepared from recycled plastic blends were poorer to some extent than that from virgin plastic blends in general, especially in elongation break. The morphology of WTBCs breaking section was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the results showed that a good interfacial adhesion between wood flour and polymer matrix was observed with both of the two modification methods. However, by blend grafting of adding DCP as initiator and MAH as monomer, a better interfacial bonding between wood and plastic matrix was obtained than that of the addition of SEBS-g-MAH. Blend grafting can be considered as a potential way of increasing the interfacial compatibility of different plastics and between plastic blends and wood.

Chemical characterization of smoke from the production process of wood-plastic composites

The chemical composition of unpleasant smell, emitted from the production process of wood-plastic composites using Manchurian ash sawdust （Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr.） and polypropylene powder as the raw material, was investigated. Wood sawdust and polypropylene powder were subjected to heat treatment to 290℃ during 8 min （the conditions were similar to those employed on an industrial scale）. The emitted compounds were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）. The analytical results showed that the unpleasant smell was emitted from the pyrogenation of wood sawdust rather than from the polypropylene powder. Nine types of compounds （hydrocarbons, ethers, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, acids and their derivatives, furan and its derivatives, and nitrogen-containing compounds） were collected in the gas phase during heating. Among those 126 components detected by GC-MS, 112 compounds were identified.

Production of mahogany sawdust reinforced LDPE wood–plastic composites using statistical response surface methodology

We produced wood–plastic composite board by using sawmill wastage of mahogany（Swietenia macrophylla） wood and low density polyethylene.We used multi-response optimization to optimize the process parameters of composite board production including mixing ratio,fire retardant（%） and pressing time（min）.We investigated the effects of these three process parameters in the mechanical and physical properties of the composite board.Afterwards,Box–Behnken design was performed as response surface methodology with desirability functions to attain the optimal level of mixing ratio,fire retardant and pressing time（min）.The maximum modulus of elasticity（MOE） and modulus of rupture（MOR） were achieved at the optimal conditions of wood plastic mixing ratio of60：40,pressing time of 9 min and zero fire retardant percentage.The optimized MOR and MOE were 13.12 and1,781.0 N mm-2,respectively.

Impacts of freezing and thermal treatments on dimensional and mechanical properties of wood flour-HDPE composite

Wood plastic composite （WPC） of wood flour （WF）, high density polyethylene （HDPE）, maleic anhydride-grafted polyethylene （MAPE） and lubricant was prepared by extrusion, and then exposed to different temperatures to evaluate the effects of freezing and thermal treatment on its dimensional and mechanical properties. At elevated temperatures, WPC expanded rapidly initially, and then contracted slowly until reaching an equilibrium state. Treatment at 52°C and relative humidity of 50% for 16 days improved the mechanical properties of WPC： flexure, tensile strength, and izod unnotched impact strength increased by 8%, 10% and 15%, respectively. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction （XRD） tests showed that the degree of crystalization of HDPE in WPC declined with increasing treatment temperature.

The Accelerated Thermo-Oxidative Aging Characteristics of Wood Fiber/Polycaprolactone Composite:Effect of Temperature,Humidity and Time

This study investigated the characteristics of wood fiber/polycaprolactone composite after an artificial accelerated thermo-oxidative aging treatment.The effect of time,temperature and humidity during the treatment on their mechanical,chemical and morphology properties were evaluated.The composite was prepared from melted wood fibers and modified polycaprolactone by a molding process.A temperature and humidity controllable test chamber was used for the thermo-oxidative aging of the composite.The thermo-oxidative aging caused surface of the composite to be much more rougher and even a few cracks and holes appeared on it.According to the spectra of Fourier Transform Infrared(FTIR)and Gel Permeation Chromatography(GPC),C=O in the molecular chain of polycaprolactone was hydrolyzed and C–O was broken after the aging treatment,which resulted in a reduction in average molecular weight of the composite.Moreover,results showed that the mechanical strength decreased a lot with the increase in time,temperature and humidity,and the effect of temperature and humidity was more significant compared with that of time.Controlling the temperature and humidity during thermo-oxidative aging treatment could accelerate the aging of composite,which provided a quick and effective method for evaluating the aging resistance of the composite.

Filling Behavior of Wood Plastic Composites

WPC （wood plastic composites） are a young generation of composites with rapidly growing usage within the plastics industry. The advantages are the availability and low price of the wood particles, the possibility of partially substituting the polymer in the mixture and sustainable use of the earth＇s resources. The current WPC products on the market are to a large extent limited to extruded products. Nowadays, there is a great interest in the market for consumer products in more use of WPC as an alternative to pure thermoplastics in injection molding processes. This work presents the results of numerical simulation and experimental visualization of the mold filling process in injection molding of WPC. The 3D injection molding simulations were done with the commercial software package Autodesk~ Moldflow Insight 2016 （AMI）. The mold filling experiments were conducted with a box-shaped test part. In contrast to unfilled polymers, the WPC has reduced melt elasticity so that the fountain flow often does not develop. This results in irregular flow front shapes in the molded part, especially at high filler content.

Mechanical Properties and Fire Retardancy of Wood Flour/High-Density Polyethylene Composites Reinforced with Continuous Honeycomb-Like Nano-SiO_(2)Network and Fire Retardant

The mechanical properties of wood flour/high-density polyethylene composites(WPC)were improved by adding a small amount of nano-SiO_(2)to obtain a network-structured WPC with a continuous honeycomb-like nano-SiO_(2)network.The wood flour was modified with a fire retardant(a mixture of sodium octabonate and amidine urea phosphate)to improve its fire retardancy.The flexural properties,creep resistance,thermal expansion,and fire retardancy of the WPC were compared to a control(WPCCTRL)without nano-SiO_(2)or fire retardant.The flexural strength and modulus of the WPC containing only 0.55 wt.%nano-SiO_(2)were 6.6%and 9.1%higher than the control,respectively,while the creep strain and thermal expansion rate at 90°C were 33.8%and 13.6%lower,respectively.The cone calorimetry tests revealed that the nano-SiO_(2)network physically shielded the WPC,giving it lower heat release and smoke production rates.The thermal expansion was further decreased by incorporating fire retardants into the WPC,which showed the lowest total heat release and total smoke production and the highest mass retention.This study demonstrates a facile procedure for producing WPC with desired performances by forming a continuous honeycomb-like network by adding a small amount of nanoparticles.

A Simulation Software for the Prediction of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Wood Plastic Composites

Modelling and simulation has become an important tool in research and development. Simulation models are used to develop better understanding of the internal properties and impact of various parameters on the final quality of the product or process. Simulation model reduces the number of experiments and saves the wastage of material, time and money and are widely used in automobile industry, aircrafts manufacturing, process engineering, training for military, health care sector and many more. Wood Plastic Composite （WPC） is a bio-composite made by mixing wood fibers and plastic granules together at high temperature by compression molding or injection molding. A large quantity of WPC is rejected due to poor quality and low mechanical strength. There is a need to improve the understanding of the wood plastic composites, with both theoretical and experimental analysis. The impact of various parameters and processing conditions on the final product is not known to the industry people, due to less simulation models in this field. A new simulation software WPC Soft is developed to predict the mechanical and thermal properties of WPC. The software can predict the mechanical and thermal properties of WPC. The simulation results were validated with the experimental results and it was observed that the predicted values are quite close to the experimental values and with the further refining of the model, prediction can be further improved. The present simulation software can be easily used by the industry people and it requires very little knowledge of computers or modeling for its operation.

The properties of flax fiber reinforced wood flour/high density polyethylene composites

Flax fiber(FF) was used to reinforce wood flour/high density polyethylene composites(WF/PE).WF/PE particles were uniformly mixed with FF via high-speed mixing and then extruded with a single screw extruder to prepare FF reinforced WF/PE composites(FF/WF/PE).Mechanical testing,dynamic mechanical analysis,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),creep measurement and Torque rheology were used to characterize the resulting composites.The results indicate that the mechanical performance of the composites could be remarkably improved by adding a limited amount of FF.The flexural strength and modulus increased by 14.6 and 51.4%,respectively(FF content of 9 wt%),while the unnotched impact strength could be increased by 26.5%(FF content of12 wt%).The creep resistance and toughness of thecomposite was markedly improved without changing the plastic content of the composite material.

马尾松、杉木木粉增强PE-HD复合材料的力学和蠕变性能

针对木塑复合材料(WPCs)在长期负载下的蠕变行为导致力学失效的问题,为明确WPCs的力学性能和蠕变特性,采用两步成型挤出法,制备7种马尾松木粉和杉木木粉增强高密度聚乙烯复合材料,分析和比较两种木粉的添加比例对WPCs的弯曲性能、动态力学性能和短期蠕变性能的影响,采用数理模型对WPCs蠕变随时间的变化进行模拟。结果表明,增强木粉中杉木木粉的含量越高,WPCs的弯曲性能越好,但是蠕变性能变差。杉木木粉在增强木粉中的质量分数为83.3%时,WPCs的储能模量最大,马尾松木粉含量逐渐减少时,WPCs的储能模量和损耗角正切值分别增大和减小。提高马尾松木粉的添加量有效地降低了WPCs在10%应力水平下的24 h应变值。Findley模型和ExpAssoc函数拟合WPCs的蠕变行为效果较好,修正后的ExpAssoc模型模拟效果更优,7种WPCs在10%应力水平下的拟合修正系数R2均在0.99以上。

Study on Water Resistance of Polydopamine Treatment Wood Flour/Polypropylene Composites

This paper aims to investigate the water absorption of wood flour/polypropylene composites and its effects on dimensional stability and crystallization properties. Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) makes using polydopamine modified wood flour (WF-D), virgin polypropylene, maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MA) and antioxidant, by using hot-pressing moulding. Water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS) and failure of flexural properties of the composites have studied for a range of immersion times. It is found that the WA and TS have increased with WF content and immersion time. The water absorption and thickness swelling of WPCs are 0.85% and 0.99%, respectively, after 8 days immersion. With the prolonging of immersion time, the impact strength, flexural strength and flexural modulus of WPCs increase first and then decrease. The impact strength decreases from 3.32 kJ/m2 to 2.94 kJ/m2, the retention rate is 88.55%;the flexural strength and flexural modulus by 68.58 Mpa and 3.92 Gpa, respectively. WPCs crystallization and thermal properties decrease slightly. Microstructures of the composites are examined to understand the mechanisms for the wood-plastic interaction which affects the water absorption and thickness swelling. Our work demonstrates that using polydopamine treatment wood flour for preparing WPCs can be an efficient way to improve the water resistance of WPCs.

Nano-CB改性发泡木塑复合材料性能研究

为提升木塑复合材料(WPC)的功能性,将纳米导电炭黑(Nano-CB)作为抗静电和阻燃填料,通过模压法制备阻燃抗静电型发泡木塑复合材料(FWPC)。探究Nano-CB对FWPC性能的影响,分析其作用机理。结果表明,Nano-CB较佳的加入量为8%,此时,FWPC的静曲强度、弹性模量、拉伸强度和冲击强度分别为33.38,2739,15.59 MPa和4.49 kJ/m^(2),表面电阻率和体积电阻率对数值均为8,抗静电性能显著提高,氧指数为21.8%,最大热释放速率和平均热释放速率分别为345.92,143.34 kW/m^(2),阻燃性能小幅增强。SEM分析表明:未加Nano-CB时,FWPC燃烧后表面炭层较薄,结构蓬松,存在大量的孔洞,加入改性Nano-CB后,FWPC燃烧炭层连续致密,表面未见气孔。

基于TD-NMR的PMMA木塑复合材吸湿和吸水研究

本研究采用时域核磁共振(TD-NMR)技术探究聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)木塑复合材在吸湿与吸水过程中水分的状态和自旋-自旋弛豫(T_(2))特征.并比较PMMA木塑复合材的阻湿率和拒水率,分析PMMA木塑复合材的阻湿和防水性能与原理.研究对象为浸渍甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)单体聚合生成的PMMA木塑复合材.首先对绝干的PMMA木塑复合材进行核磁共振T_(2)检测,然后分别进行吸湿和吸水实验,并每隔一段时间测定试件质量及其T_(2)信号量.结果表明:PMMA木塑复合材的吸湿率和吸水率低于未处理材,具有良好的阻湿和防水性能,且MMA浸渍浓度为100%,浸渍时间为24 h时,在温度为(40±0.2)℃相对湿度为(96.4±0.4)%恒温恒湿环境下木塑复合材吸湿率低于15%,常温下吸水试件的吸水率低于30%.PMMA木塑复合材的吸湿率和吸水率明显降低,T_(2)峰面积也逐渐减小.这说明木塑复合材内部的PMMA起到了防止水分进入的作用.

生物质-PLA木塑复合材料的机械性能研究

生物质基木塑材料不仅具备生物质材料优异的可降解性能,同时其塑料材料也具有良好的环境友好性。通过将不同种类的生物质材料杨木和秸秆分别与新型塑料PLA进行结合,制备了木塑复合材料(WPC),并探讨了生物质材料的占比对于木塑复合材料机械性能的影响。结果表明:当生物质材料杨木和秸秆分别与PLA的比例为3:7时,其WPC表现出了优异的机械性能,其最高洛氏硬度、静曲强度和弹性模量分别为152 HRB、43.5 MPa和3695 MPa。进一步对该比例的WPC进行碱处理改性后,降低了纤维中杂质,增加了比表面积,提升了木塑材料的界面相容性。相比于碱处理改性之前,杨木-PLA材料的洛氏硬度提高了12.5%,静曲强度和弹性模量分别提高了14.9%和6.1%。最后通过碱-偶联剂共改性的方式将洛氏硬度增加至180 HRB,再次小幅度提升其界面结合能力,增强机械性能。该研究为木塑材料的设计与研究提供了研究基础。