Flat-pressed wood plastic composites from sawdust and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET): physical and mechanical properties

Abstract

This study deals with the fabrication of composite matrix from saw dust (SD) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at different ratio (w/w) by flat-pressed method. The wood plastic composites (WPCs) were made with a thickness of 6 mm after mixing the saw dust and PET in a rotary type blender followed by flat press process. Physical i.e., density, moisture content (MC), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS), and mechanical properties i.e., Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) were assessed as a function of mixing ratios according to the ASTM D-1037 standard. WA and TS were measured after 24 hours of immersion in water at 25, 50 and 75°C temperature. It was found that density decreased 18.3% when SD content increased from 40% to 70% into the matix. WA and TS increased when the PET content decreased in the matrix and the testing water temperature increased. MOE and MOR were reached to maximum for the fabricated composites (2008.34 and 27.08 N/mm2, respectively) when the SD content were only 40%. The results indicated that the fabrication of WPCs from sawdust and PET would technically feasible; however, the use of additives like coupling agents could further enhance the properties of WPCs.

Compósito madeira-plástico a partir de resíduos de três espécies florestais

“…Desta forma, pode-se afirmar que todos os compósitos confeccionados atenderam aos requisitos normativos quanto à densidade, uma importante característica que influencia as demais propriedades dos compósitos. Adicionalmente, Rahman et al (2013) salientam que o indicador mais importante do desempenho de um composto é a densidade, a qual afeta todas as demais propriedades dos compósitos.…”

“…Valores semelhantes de módulo de ruptura (MOR) verificados no presente estudo foram reportados por Rahman et al (2013) Compósitos confeccionados a partir de materiais de baixa densidade conferem às chapas melhor desempenho quanto às propriedades mecânicas. Sendo assim, poder-se-á utilizar na confecção de compósitos uma combinação de espécies com menores massas específicas, em relação às tradicionais, em conjunto com espécies já difundidas no meio florestal, para que haja no painel maior desempenho mecânico desses compósitos.…”

Effect of Microwave Pretreatment on the Properties of Particleboard Made from Para Rubber Wood Sawdust with the Addition of Polyhydroxyalkanoates

“…It was then dried in an oven at 103±2°C for 24 h or until the moisture content reached 2-3% which was considered as a dry basis (Rahman et al 2013), before being milled and sieved to a size of 1 mm. Then, the samples were mixed with water in a ratio of 1:2 before being treated with microwaves in a microwave oven (LG model MS2323) with various levels of microwave power (400, 600 and 800 watt) and pretreatment times (5, 10 and 15 min).…”

A Comparative Study of Material Leucaena Leucocephala Stem Wood Plastic Composite (Wpc) Substrate With Fr4 Substrate Throughout Single Patch Antenna Design

“…The temperature of the cold press machine is set to 20 • C with duration of 120 second [26]. The overall setting of hot and cold press machines can be viewed in Table 3.…”

“…The hot and cold press machines are shown in Figure 2. Most of the fabrication method of WPC can be obtained in [25,26].…”