Enhancement of the properties of hybrid woods polymer composites by chemical pre-treatments

Abstract

The present work aims to enhance the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and water resistance behavior of hybrid Pinus/Shorea robusta wood particles reinforced epoxy composites employing the chemical pre-treatments. The hybrid wood composites were prepared by hand lay-up method keeping a constant of 25 wt% of wood particles concentration with equal proportions of Pinus and Shorea robusta wood particles. The performance of the hybrid wood composite was improved by improving the interfacial bonding between wood particles and epoxy resin by chemical pre-treatments of the wood particles using silane (APTES) with varying concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 wt% and alkali (NaOH) with varying concentrations of 5%, 10%, and 15%. The mechanical properties (namely, tensile, flexural, impact, and microhardness) and water absorption properties (namely, maximum water uptake and sorption, diffusion, and permeability coefficients) of the prepared hybrid wood composites were measured. The investigations include the study of thermal degradation and crystalline behavior using thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis, respectively. It was observed that the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and water resistance and crystalline behavior of the hybrid wood composites were significantly enhanced after these pre-treatments. Further, it was concluded that silane pre-treated hybrid composite with 6 wt% concentration provided the best performance than untreated as well as alkali pre-treated wood composites.