Title: A comparison on untreated and alkaline treated rubberwood flour on physical and mechanical properties of wood plastic composites

Authors: Sriwan Khamtree; Thanate Ratanawilai; Sukritthira Ratanawilai

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand

Abstract: The effect of the untreated and alkaline treated rubberwood flour (RWF) on water absorption, tensile and flexural properties of the wood plastic composites (WPCs) was investigated. The surface of RWF was treated by an alkaline treatment with NaOH solution of 2% w/v concentration for 24 h. The results showed that the RWF treated with alkaline could enhance the interfacial adhesion with rPP and also improve the water absorption and tensile and flexural properties of WPCs. In addition, the alkaline treatment and RWF content significantly affected the tensile and flexural strength. The alkaline treatment also increased water resistance of WPCs, which at 20% RWF content showed the lower water absorption (2.04%). The highest tensile strength (17.75 MPa) and flexural strength (35.73 MPa) of WPCs were achieved with an alkaline treatment at 30 wt% RWF. Moreover, the tensile and flexural modulus of WPCs increased with increasing RWF content (20% to 50%).

Keywords: surface treatment; recycled polypropylene; water absorption; tensile properties; flexural properties.

DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2018.097067

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2018 Vol.12 No.3, pp.297 - 308

Received: 09 Jul 2018
Accepted: 22 Aug 2018
Published online: 07 Dec 2018 *

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