Comparative study of some properties of wood plastic composite materials produced with polyethylene, wood flour, and glass flour

Abstract

Wood flour is the most common filler used in the production of wood plastic composite (WPC) materials. In scientific studies on this subject, wood flours obtained from different trees and fillers obtained from different annual plants are used. In addition, some mineral-based fillers are also used in materials made of plastic. In this study, a low-density polyethylene polymer obtained from recycling was used as the matrix. Larch wood flour and glass flour obtained by grinding soft drink bottles were used as fillers. Composite boards were produced using 60% polymer as the matrix, along with wood flour and glass flour in varying proportions. The density, flexural strength, flexural modulus, tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, and hardness values of the produced composites were determined. Based on the data obtained, the density increased with the addition of wood flour and glass flour as fillers, and the density-increasing effect of the glass flour was higher than that of the wood flour. Compared to the control samples, it was determined that the bending strength and elongation at break of the experimental groups decreased, and the flexural modulus and tensile modulus increased in the experimental samples using wood flour and glass flour.