The rheological behavior of wood plastic composites’ (WPCs’) melts is closely associated with extrusion processability, especially in highly filled systems. This study investigated the extrusion processibility and the effects of test conditions and typical WPC additives on the torque rheological behavior of wood flour/high-density polyethylene (WF/HDPE) mixing melts compounded using a twin-screw extruder. Both equilibrium melt temperature ( Te) and equilibrium torque ( Ma) at steady state increased with WF content. Addition of 2% lubricant TPW604 based on the total weight of WF and HDPE matrix resulted in a decrease in measured Te and Ma, showing a reduction in shear heating in mixing chamber. Adding 4% maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) as compatibilizer resulted in an increase in measured Te and Ma. In this study, adding lubricant TPW604 and/or compatibilizer MAPE can improve the extrusion processability of highly filled WF/HDPE melts. For a WPC system with preset compositions, its Ma value can be used to evaluate its extrusion processability. The results provide both knowledge about the compounding procedure and practical methods for evaluating the effectiveness of WPC additives, the flow performance, and extrusion processability of highly filled WPC melts.
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of epoxy resin on the rheological and mechanical properties and water absorption rate of wood flour/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites (wood-plastic composite [WPC]). Design/methodology/approach The reactive mixing of various epoxy resins with 60 Wt.% wood flour and HDPE was carried out in a twin-screw extruder with a special screw element arrangement. Polyethylene-grafted maleic anhydride (MAPE) was used as a coupling agent to improve the interfacial interaction between wood flour, epoxy resin and HDPE. Findings The tensile, flexural and impact properties of the composites increased initially and then decreased with the increasing content of epoxy resin. The complex viscosity decreased with increasing epoxy resin content, but a trend reversal was observed at 8 Wt.% epoxy resin. The epoxy resin-modified wood-HDPE composites chemically coupled by MAPE showed minimal water absorption. Research limitations/implications The cured epoxy resins impart high-aspect-ratio and plate-like polymeric fillers, affect the rheological behavior of the WPC and can also be oriented in a flow direction. Epoxy resin has good interaction with the cellulose structure of wood flour because of the polar functional groups within the cellulose. Practical implications This method provided a simple and practical solution to improve the performance of WPC. Originality/value The WPC modified by epoxy resin in this study had high performance in rheological and mechanical properties, and thus can be widely used for domestic, packaging and automotive applications.
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