Properties of wood–plastic composites made of milled particleboard and polypropylene

Cezary Gozdecki,Stanisław Zajchowski,Marek Kociszewski,Arnold Wilczyński

doi:10.1007/s00107-014-0852-2

Abstract

Particles derived from milling three-layer particleboards, with sizes from 0.5 to 3 mm, were used for making composites with polypropylene by an injection moulding method. Maleated polypropylene was used as a coupling agent. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the composites made from particleboard and polypropylene with respect to the content of particles derived from particleboard and coupling agent addition. Properties of the composites did not differ significantly from those of composites with virgin industrial wood particles used for manufacturing particleboards. Moreover, these properties were comparable with the properties of typical wood–plastic composites with wood flour. Particles derived from milling particleboards have proved to be an effective alternative wood component of wood–plastic composites.

Highlights

Wood–plastic composites (WPCs) have been rapidly developed in recent years due to their numerous advantages
The objectives of the study were to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of these WPCs as affected by (1) particleboard particle content, (2) coupling agent addition, and to compare these properties, (3) with the properties of WPC made from virgin industrial wood particles and (4) with the properties of WPC made from wood flour
The mean values of recycled wood particles (RWPs) length ranged from 2.3 mm for the fraction 0.5–1.0 to 5.1 mm for the fraction 2.0–3.0 mm, while those of virgin wood particles (VWPs) length ranged from 3.9 mm for the fraction 0.5–1.0 to 16.2 mm for the fraction 2.0–3.0 mm

Summary

Introduction

Wood–plastic composites (WPCs) have been rapidly developed in recent years due to their numerous advantages. Many studies have shown that the properties of WPCs made from recycled polymers, especially from polypropylene and high-density polyethylene, are only slightly. Most WPC companies in the United States use recycled polymers (Winandy et al 2004). The wood component of WPCs is very often made from waste generated by wood industry. Wood flour which is commonly used in WPC as a wood component is mainly produced from sawdust which is the primary waste product of sawmills. The second common wood component in WPCs is recycled wood fibre including newspaper fibre. Ashori and Nourbakhsh (2008) proved that lignocellulosic fibres from old corrugated containers could be considered as a potential filler of WPCs The usefulness of fibres from old newspapers has been confirmed by Sanadi et al (1994), English et al (1996), Ashori and Nourbakhsh (2009), Ashori (2010), Ashori and Sheshmani (2010), Lopez et al (2012). Ashori and Nourbakhsh (2008) proved that lignocellulosic fibres from old corrugated containers could be considered as a potential filler of WPCs

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion