Toughening wood/polypropylene composites with polyethylene octene elastomer (POE)

Polyethylene octene elastomer (POE) as impact modifier was incorporated into wood/polypropylene composites (WPC) to enhance the impact strength of the composite. Two extruding routes, i.e. direct extruding route and two-stage extruding route, were adopted to produce Wood Powder/PP/POE ternary composites. The mechanical and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) properties of the composites were investigated. The results showed that the addition of POE can increase the impact strength of the composites, and the composites produced via two-stage extruding route showed superior mechanical properties. The results of the DMA confirmed the mechanical tests.

Preparation of wood-based hydrogel membranes for efficient purification of complex wastewater using a reconstitution strategy

To avoid resource wastage and secondary environmental pollution,recycling and reusing waste wood powder is still a great challenge.Moreover,the poor viscosity and irregular pore size of wood powder limit its practical application.This study,employed a green and convenient wood powder reconstitution strategy to achieve highly adhesive bonding and pore size control between wood powder particles,thus preparing a high-strength and super hydrophilic wood powder membrane.The wood powder fibers were partially dissolved and regenerated to create a reconstituted wood powder hydrogel membrane,using waste wood powder as the raw material.The wood powder reconstitution strategy offers advantages such as environmental friendliness,simplicity,cost-effectiveness,and strong universality.Furthermore,the materials exhibit excellent self-cleaning properties and superhydrophilicity.Driven by gravity,the membrane can purify oily wastewater and dyes.Additionally,the reconstitution strategy offers a new pathway for recycling wood powder.

Experimental Study of Influence of Fuel Ratio on Combustion Characteristics of Diesel-Wetted Wood Powder

In this study, experiments were conducted to examine the influence of the fuel ratio(i.e., the ratio of diesel mass to wood powder mass) on the combustion characteristics of diesel-wetted wood powder, in which 0# diesel and poplar wood powder were used and well mixed. The fuel ratios were set to 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0. Fire behaviors, temperature distributions, mass loss rates, and CO concentrations were measured and analyzed. The results showed that because of the coupled effect of evaporation and the capillary force, the ignition point of diesel-wetted wood powder(less than 3°C) dropped dramatically as compared with that of pure wood powder(higher than 280°C) and pure diesel(higher than 107°C). At the early stage of combustion, diesel is lifted upwards by the capillary force, increasing both the concentration of diesel vapor and the temperature at the surface. When the surface temperature reaches that of the pyrolysis of wood powder, considerable pyrolysis gas emerges and combusts. As the flammable gas is consumed gradually, carbon combusts prominently when plenty of oxygen diffuses to its surface. Regarding the influence of the fuel ratio, the results showed that in cases with lower fuel ratios, the combustion was not self-sustainable. When the fuel ratio was relatively high, the temperature at the flame center was lower owing to incomplete combustion. More CO could be found in cases with higher fuel ratios in the early and late stages of combustion. The results could help to improve knowledge regarding combustion of fuel-wetted wood powder.

Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Wood Powder /Polypropylene Composites

The dynamic mechanical properties of wood powder/polypropylene composites with different wood content treated and untreated with the compatibilizer have been studied. It has been found that addition of wood powders and the compatibilizer can both improve the viscoelasticity of composites. Glass transition temperature (Tg) of appropriate wood powder-filled composites decreased. The value for the storage modulus (G') increased gradually with increasing wood powder content. The addition of the compatibiliz...