Preparation and Properties of Wood Flour/HDPE Composites Using C₅-g-MAH as Compatilizer

Abstract

Maleic anhydride grafted C5 petroleum resin (C5-g-MAH) was prepared using peroxide as an initiator by melt grafting process, and was incorporated as a compatibilizer into Wood Flour/High Density Polyethylene (WF/HDPE) composites. The effect of second monomers and C5-g-MAHs on the morphology and mechanical properties of composites was investigated. Results showed that the presence of a second monomer, Triallyl isocyanurate (TAI), Butyl acrylate (BA) or Trimethylol proane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA), in the grafting system gave rise to higher grafting ratio of C5-g-MAHs compared to that without a second monomer. The highest grafting ratio was obtained as TMPTMA content being 0.20~0.35wt% based on C5. The addition of C5-g-MAHs into WF/HDPE resulted in improved mechanical properties. Meanwhile the composite containing C5-g-MAH with 0.30wt% TMPTMA exhibits the most significant improvement in all mechanical properties with tensile strength and bend strength increasing up to 18% and 20% respectively, which is concomitant with the finer morphology structure observed by SEM, suggesting the remarkable compatibilizing effect of C5-g-MAH with TMPTMA for WF/HDPE composites.