Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of heat-treated wood-polypropylene composites and comparison of the composites with PROMETHEE method

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to determine the mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of heat-treated wood-polypropylene polymer composites (WPCs) and to select the composites having the optimum properties with the PROMETHEE method. In this study, polypropylene (PP) as a matrix, wood thermally treated at 180 degrees C and 220 degrees C as reinforcement filler were examined for preparing composites. The PP composites were compounded using a twin-screw extruder and test specimens were prepared by compression moulding. According to the test results, the thermal and mechanical properties of the WPCs generally increased with the addition of heat-treated wood fillers. The SEM images showed that the wood fillers dispersed better in the PP matrix as the particle size decreased from 40 mesh to 100 mesh. The WPCs having the optimum mechanical and thermal properties were determined for 40 mesh heat-treated wood at 220 degrees C and 20 wt-% loadings with PROMETHEE method.