• Resources Recycling
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.57-63
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• 1999

Wood-Polymer Composites (WPC) m s prepared irom recycled films of agricullural use and wood wastes, and LLDPE and neal PE resin mlxlurr war also utilized in order to cornpiue the praperlies. Molc~ca nhydride (MA) and dicumyl peroxide were used as an adheslon pmmoler and an il~lliatotor~, .espcmivelyT. ensile prapenies of W Cw zrc measured via lenslle test as a funclieu of woad lille~m d MA contmt, and rractu1.e surface was also mvestigaled wilh SEM. As the content of wwd tiller mcreased, clongauon deneased bul modulus increased However, tensile slrength OI WPC increased only when MA war used, and 1 wt.% of MA may be hgh enough to increase the tensile properties. The tensilc ptopcrlies af WPC prepwed from recycled PE films were &nost same as thosc of neal PE resin mixture.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.91-94
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• 2005

Polypropylene as a matrix has been used for wood polymer composites(WPC). In preparing WPC, the coupling agent, Polypropylene grafted Maleic Anhydride(PP-G-MA) was used in order to obtain a good interfacial bonding force between matrix and fillers and dispersion of wood powders. In this study, the effects of wood powder contents and water absorption on the mechanical properties were experimentally investigated. The tensile strength and flexural strength of composites reached its peak value when the wood powder content was around 60 wt%. However, the peak value of the impact was observed about 30 wt% of wood powder content. The tensile strength and flexural strength increase with increasing the wood power contents. But the impact strength decrease with increasing the wood powder contents. The slight change was observed with the water absorption in the WPC. The optimal condition of the compositions such as Anti-oxidant and UV stabilizers for the outdoor application was suggested in this research.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.204-210
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• 2013

Effects of additives (lubricant and antioxidant) and melt-blending condition (temperature, time and rotor speed) on the mechanical properties of polypropylene-based wood polymer composites (WPCs) were investigated. WPCs were prepared by melt-blending followed by compression molding. To understand melt-blending procedure, torque change of the WPC melt-blend was monitored. Maleic anhydride modified PP and nanoclay were used as a compatibilizer and a reinforcing filler, respectively. UTM and izod impact tester were used to measure the mechanical properties of the WPCs and a color-difference meter was used to measure the discoloration of the WPCs according to melt-blending condition. The mechanical properties showed that the optimized melt-blending condition was $170^{\circ}C$, 15 min, and 60 rpm. The mechanical properties of the WPCs decreased with increasing lubricant and antioxidant content. The two step method, adding wood flour later separately during melt-blending, was more effective than the typical one step method for improving the mechanical properties of the WPCs.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.216-220
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• 2013

The phase separation in Wood Flour-Polymer Composite (WPC) was investigated and the reasons for change in mechanical properties with the content of wood flour were explored. The wood flour-polypropylene composite samples with different wood flour contents were prepared. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of WPC samples, the trend of crystallinity and melting temperature ($T_m$) were analyzed. The crystallinity and melting temperature increased and then decreased as the content of wood flour increased. From these results, it was confirmed that at the low wood flour content the wood flours were dispersed into the polypropylene matrix but at the high wood flour content, the phase separation between polymer and wood flour phases appeared. The tensile strength of WPC samples was continuously decreased with the increase of wood flour content. At a low wood flour content, the low interfacial bonding and the decrease in crystallinity were the main reasons for the decrease in tensile strength with the increase of wood flour content. At a high wood flour content, the decrease in tensile strength resulted from the interfacial defects between the polymer and wood flour phases. The impact strength of the WPC sample showed the maximum behavior with the content of wood flour. At a low wood flour content, the impact strength was enhanced owing to the decrease in brittleness, which results from the decrease in crystallinity. At a high wood flour content, however, the impact strength decreased due to phase separation.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.218-222
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• 2011

The effect of cycled temperature change on the mechanical properties of wood flour(50 wt.% and 70 wt.%) polypropylene WPC(Wood Plastic Composites) was investigated in this study. Flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC showed a decrease due to the degradation of interfacial adhesion between polymer matrix and wood flour by the freeze-thaw test regardless of the cycled number. At the higher loading level of wood flour, the reduction of the flexural modulus was remarkable. After the cycled heat-freeze test, it was found that the flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC were lower at the high temperature ($60^{\circ}C$) and higher at the low temperature ($-20^{\circ}C$). At the low temperature ($-20^{\circ}C$) which is below glass transition temperature of polypropylene ($-10^{\circ}C$), WPC is in a glassy state which brings about the high stiffness and strength. At the high temperature ($60^{\circ}C$), the flexural modulus and flexural strength of the WPC with 50 wt.% wood flour were lower because of the increase of polymer ductility.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.14-34
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• 1985

One of the techniques for altering the properties of wood that has received considerable attention in the last twenty years is the formation of a wood-polymer composite (WPC) by irradiation and heat-catalyst polymerization of a monomer incorporated into the wood matrix. Wood-polymer composites are the new products having the superior mechanical and physical properties and the combinated characteristics of wood and plastic. The purpose of this experiment was to obtain the basic data for the improvement of wooden materials by manufacturing WPC and Staypak. The species examined was Hyunsasi-Namoo (Populus alba ${\times}$ P. glandulosa) which had not been utilized yet. Methylmethacrylate (MMA) as monomer, benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator and methyl alcohol as bulking agent were used. The monomer containing BPO was impregnated into wood pieces by the dipping and the vacuum process for 2 hours. After impregnation, the treated samples were polymerized on the hot press with pressure and heat-catalyst methods. The results obtained were summarized as follows 1. The monomer loading into wood by the dipping process was 12.13 percent and 29.99 percent by the vacuum. The polymer loading into wood by the dipping process was 6.79 percent and 15.44 percent by the vacuum. 2. Comparing with Staypak, antishrink efficiency (ASE) of WPC was 12.5 to 13.6 percent on the radial direction and 14.70 to 18.63 percent on the tangential. Antiswelling efficiency (AE) was 14.40 to 17.22 percent on the radial direction and 17.18 to 42.1 8 to 42.14 percent on the tangential. Reduction in water absorptivity (RWA) was 8.19 to 15.5 percent. As a whole, the vacuum process was better than the dipping. 3. The specific gravity of control, Staypak and WPC were 0.44, 0.66 and 0.61 to 0.62, respectively. 4. In the bending strength test, the strength in case that the load direction is on the radial surface was greater than that which the load direction is on the tangential. 5. Increasing rate of stress at proportional limit in compression perpendicular to grain was 72.26 percent in case of WPC by the dipping process, 78.93 percent by the vacuum and 99.09 percent in case of Staypak.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2011

Wood plastic composites (WPCs) are attracting a lot of interest recently. In this study, wood flour/polyethylene (PE) composites panels comprised of a coupling agent and nanoclay were prepared by melt-blending followed by compression molding. Five maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) coupling agents were tested, and the best choice and its optimum content were determined. The mechanical properties of the WPCs were measured by UTM, and the thermal properties were measured by TGA, DMA, DSC, and TMA. Adding just a small amount (1 phr) of organoclay made the tensile and flexural strength and the crystallinity of the WPC somewhat increase and the storage modulus and dimensional stability of the WPC largely increase. SEM images showed that the coupling agent drastically improved wood flour/PE interfacial bonding. Selecting the best coupling agent optimized content and adding a small amount of organoclay resulted in a high performance wood flour/PE composite.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.129-137
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• 2014

In this study, the melt-mixing condition was optimized first to maximize the physical properties of a wood plastic composite (WPC) with recycled polypropylene (PP) and the effects of recycled PP content on the physical properties of the WPC were investigated. Mechanical properties of the WPC were measured by UTM and an izod impact tester and thermal properties were investigated by DSC, TGA and DMA. Fracture surfaces of the WPC were investigated by SEM. The optimized mixing condition of WPC with 50 wt% recycled PP of total PP was melt-mixing at $170^{\circ}C$ for 15 min at 60 rpm. With increasing the content of the recycled PP, the water absorption characteristics of the WPC increased and the thermal and mechanical properties decreased. However, the following was concluded from the analysis of all the physical properties; it was possible adding the recycled PP up to 50 wt% of total PP without a significant decrease in the performance of the WPC.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2011

Wood Polymer Composite (WPC) has attracted a great deal of attention in environmental industries due to renewable resources, processability, excellent physical properties and logging regulations for application to housing units and engineering construction materials. In this study, commercial WPCs were prepared by using a modular intermeshing co-rotating twin screw extruder. The effect of three main factors such as wood flour contents, coupling agent concentrations and pre-treatment of wood flour on the properties of WPCs was extensively investigated. It was found that tensile strength and thermal stability were decreased with increasing wood flour contents whereas the water absorption was increased. Addition of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) into WPC exhibited better physical properties. On the contrary, the water absorption was slightly decreased with PP-g-MA. Finally the sample, which was prepared with pre-treated wood flour, represented the highest tensile strength. However, the water absorption of the sample was increased due to the transition of crystalline structure of cellulose.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2018

Wood Polymer Composites(WPC) have attracted significant attention because of ecological and environmental concerns. However, the structure of Wood Flour containing many hydroxyl groups(-OH) reduces the interface adhesion to Phenol-formaldehyde(PF) and it decreases the mechanical properties of the PF/Wood Flour Composites. The present work involves the modification of Wood Flour using silanes reinforced with Phenol-formaldehyde to enhance the mechanical properties of the composites. The spectroscopic properties of the composites were analyzed using FT-IR, XPS(X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and the mechanical properties i.e., tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength were studied. We confirmed the modification effect of silanes by spectroscopic analysis, and the mechanical properties of the composites using wood flour modified by silanes were significantly improved.