Abstract:

This study investigated the treating effects of wood flour(WF) with six silane coupling agents of Vinyltrimethoxysilane(A-171), Vinyltriethoxysilane(A-151), γ-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane(DB-550),γ-Glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (DB-560), γ-Methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (DB-570) and γ-Mercaptopropyl triethoxysilane (DB-580) respectively on the physical and mechanical properties of resulting wood flour/high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites. The flexural, tensile and unnotched impact strength and the water absorption were determined. The interaction of wood and silanes was investigated by FTIR and the fractural surfaces of samples were analyzed using a scanning electronic microscope(SEM). The results showed that treatments with the silane coupling agents used caused the increase in the mechanical properties of the WF/HDPE composites, suggesting that the interfacial bonding was improved accordingly. The better treating effect was observed for the resulting composites coupled with vinyltrimethoxysilane, which resulted in an increase in the flexural strength, tensile strength, unnotched impact strength by 31.59%,31.26%, 49.29%, and a reduction in cool and boiling water absorption by 59.71% and 48.29% respectively. Vinyltrimethoxysilane was grafted on WF and improved the interfacial compatibility of the composites from the analyzed of the SEM and FTIR. This is mainly attributed to the grafting of vinylsilane with both wood and HDPE matrix.

Key words: silane coupling agent, wood treatment, interfacial compatibility, wood plastic composites, mechanical properties