A delignified longitudinal-cutting poplar veneer-based epoxy resin composite with excellent transmittance, haze, flexibility and wood fiber art texture

Abstract

A delignified longitudinal-cutting poplar veneer-based epoxy resin composite (TLPE) with excellent transmittance, haze, flexibility and wood fiber art texture, that was prepared by delignifing longitudinal-cutting poplar veneer (LPV) and filling the delignified LPV with epoxy resin (ER). The TLPE has retained the porous structure and wood fiber art texture of LPV due to the fact that it is not completely filled with resin. The changed benzene skeleton and the ether (C-O-C) were found in the TLPE, that should be due to the chemical combination between the benzene of filled ER and the cellulose of delignified LPV, and the chemical reaction between the benzene and the cellulose yielded the C-O-C. Parts of the TLPE that are completely filled with the ER, that can reach a transmittance of approximately 90 % and a haze of approximately 90 %. Moreover, due to the combined action between the fibril of delignified LPV and the ER, the TLPE has high refractive index fluctuation in the perpendicular direction of fiber and excellent flexibility (the elongation at break: 15 %). When the TLPE is used as the building material, the TLPE can provide a comfortable lighting effect after the light passes through it, it can also accommodate various streamlined and natural artistic shapes with wood fiber art texture in buildings, and it can also achieve a balance between science and art in the building through its optical, styling, and textural advantages.