Water absorption and thickness swelling behavior of thermally treated lignocellulosic reinforced styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) composites

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of heat treated and untreated wood fillers on water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) behavior of wood/SMA thermoplastic composites. Wood plastic composites (WPCs) were produced from thermally treated eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) wood and styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) polymer by melt compounding followed by injection molding. The wood chips were thermally treated for 8 h at 212°C, under saturated steam in a digester and then grounded (60-mesh size) by a wood mill. WA and TS behavior of the composites were determined at different levels of wood flour content for several weeks. Results indicated that the WA and TS of wood flour filled/SMA composites increased with increasing both of wood flour and heat treated wood flour content. Also, the composites containing 50% heat treated wood flour with SMA had the maximum moisture sorption. © 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.