Wood plastic composites (WPC) have gained a relatively large share in the composite market. The environmental benefits and good properties of the materials make them attractive for variety of applications. The largest interest and the most promising market growth is predicted for the automotive industry followed by the building and construction industry. Because of the hydrophilic nature of wood and characteristics of non-polar thermoplastic polymer, there are some challenges that restrict the full potential of these materials. The main challenges are water absorption, fungal attacks, UV degradation, dimensional changes, creep, mechanical properties, fire performance and cost. By using different additives (coupling agents, pigments etc.) or by modifying the wood particles (chemically or physically) it is possible to improve some of the properties, however any additional operation increase the cost of the product. One of the most promising ways to overcome some of these challenges without significantly increasing the costs is the use of wood residues from heat treated lumber. Previous research about heat treated wood plastic composites (HTWPC) show that these materials have superior water resistance, dimensional stability, creep resistance, durability against fungi and even better thermal stability than WPC with untreated wood particles. One of the major disadvantages for HTWPC are the mechanical properties which could be improved by using coupling agents. Of course the addition of coupling agent increase the cost of the end product, however still the manufacturing costs for HTWPC should be in the same range as any other commercial WPC, because most of them contain coupling agents. The main objective of the research was to determine how maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MAPP) influence HTWPC properties.
Keywords: wood plastic composites WPC, thermally modified wood, dimensional stability, maleic anhydride
Authors
Edgars Kuka
Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, Riga, Latvia
Dace Cirule
Janis Kajaks
Bruno Andersons
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