Wood plastic composites are mainly used in outdoor applications: decking, railing, window profiles, fencing and outdoor furniture. Therefor it is important to determine their behavior in UV exposure. In this work some of the surface properties of wood plastic composites made with thermally modified wood flour were investigated. Measurements of surface color after artificial UV weathering showed a significant changes for these composites where DEvalues were in the interval between 30 and 34 units depending on thermal modification regime of wood. Reflected light microscope pictures showed that for all of the wood plastic composite that were tested the surface was shattered after 280 h of artificial weathering. How-ever, there was an important benefit for wood plastic composites with thermally modified wood flour: the erosion effect was less noticeable.
Keywords: wood plastic composites, thermally modified wood, artificial weathering, uv degradation, color change
Authors
Kuka E.
Laboratory of Wood Biodegradation and Protection, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga
Faculty of Material Science and Applied Chemistry, Riga Technical University, Riga
Cirule D.
Laboratory of Wood Biodegradation and Protection, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga
Kajaks J.
Faculty of Material Science and Applied Chemistry, Riga Technical University, Riga
Andersone I.
Laboratory of Wood Biodegradation and Protection, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga
Andersons B.
Laboratory of Wood Biodegradation and Protection, Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga
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