Enhancement of Recycled WPC With Epoxy Nanocomposite Coats

Abstract

THE RECYCLED plastic and wood waste were recycled to produce new useful product, wood plastic composite (WPC), that having characteristics close to commercial wood. WPC was performed by compounding and forming different recycled polyethylene/wood flour (PE/WF) weight ratios as 70/30, 60/40, 50/50 and 40/60 using twin screw extruder. Based on the mechanical properties measured via dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), an optimized ratio was found to be (50/50)and was chemically treated with chromic acid solution and investigated by FTIR that approved successful functionalization after treatment. The treated WPC was then coated with different epoxy nanocomposites including reactive rubber nanoparticles (RRNP), montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The coated WPC was fully tested using mechanical characterizations (modulus and scratch), water absorption (dist. and sea water), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that WPC coated with epoxy/CNT, epoxy/MMT and epoxy/RRNP has an enhanced final product with promising mechanical and physical properties compared to blank or uncoated WPC specimens. Also WPC coated with all epoxy nanocomposites has got enhanced modulus, more scratch resistance, lower water absorption and developed thermal stability, compared to the un-filled epoxy coat. Of those, the epoxy-CNT nanocomposite is an optimized protective coat for WPC even after immersion in water with different conditions.