• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2008

The effects of fillers on the mechanical and thermal properties of glass/novolac composites have been studied. The matrix polymer and reinforcement were novolac type phenolic resin and milled glass fiber, respectively. Three different fillers, such as calcium carbonate, aluminum oxide, and wood powder were used for glass fiber reinforced plastic(GFRP) manufacture. Gravity, moisture content, tensile and flexural strength were measured to analyze the mechanical properties of GFRP and the final composites was burned in the electronic furnace at $1000^{\circ}C$ to confirm thermal properties GFRP containing aluminium oxide shows the highest thermal stability with 32% of weight loss at $1000^{\circ}C$ for one hour. GFRP containing calcium carbonate shows the maximum flexural strength (146 MPa), but that containing wood powder dose the highest tensile strength (65 MPa). Conclusively, we found that the characteristics of final composites strongly depend on several factors, such as types of materials, contents and chemical affinity of fillers. Therefore, it is very important to set up the combination of fillers for GFRP manufacturing to improve both mechanical and thermal properties at the same time.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.3-16
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• 1974

One of the disadvantages of. wood and wood products is their hydroscopicity or dimensional instability. This is responsible for the loss of green volume of lumber as seasoning degrade. Dimensional stabilization is needed to substantially reduce seasoning defects and degrades and for increasing the serviceability of wood products. Recently, considerable world-wide attention has been drawn to the so-called Wood-Plastic Composites by irradiation-and heat-catalyst-polymerization methods and many research and developmental works have been reported. Wood-Plastic 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. The species examined were Mulpurae-Namoo (Fraxinus, rhynchophylla), Sea-Namoo (Carpinus laxiflora), Cheungcheung-Namoo (Cornus controversa), Gorosae-Namoo (Acermono), Karae-Namoo(Juglans mandshurica) and Sanbud-Namoo (Prunus sargentii), used as blocks of type A ($3{\times}3{\times}40cm$) and type B ($5{\times}5{\times}60cm$), and were conditioned to about 10~11% moisture content before impregnation in materials humidity control room. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) as monomer and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator are used. The monomer containing BPO was impregnated into wood pieces in the vacuum system. After impregnation, the treated samples were polymerized with heat-catalyst methods. The immersed weights of monomer in woods are directly proportionated to the impregnation times. Monomer impregnation properties of Cheungcheung-Namoo, Mulpurae-Namoo and Seo-Namoo are relatively good, but in Karae-Namoo, it is very difficult to impregnate the monomer MMA. Fig. 3 shows the linear relation between polymer retentions in wood and polymerization times; that is, the polymer loadings are increasing with polymerization times. Furthermore species, moisture content, specific gravity and anatomical or conductible structure of wood, bulking solvents and monomers etc have effects on both of impregnation of monomer and polymer retention. Physical properties of treated materials are shown in table 3. Increasing rates of specific gravity are ranged 3 to 24% and volume swelling 3 to 10%. ASE is 20 to 46%, AE 14 to 50% and RWA 18 to 40%. Especially, the ASE in relation to absorption of liquid water increases approximately with increase of polymer content, although the bulking effect of the polymerization of monomer may also be influential. WPCs from Mulpurae-Namoo and Cheungcheung-Namoo have high dimensional stability, while its of Karae-Namoo and Seo-Namoo are-very low. Table 4 shows the mechanical properties of WPCs from 6 species. With its specific gravity and polymer loading increase, all mechanical properties are on the increase. Increasing rate of bending strength is 10 to 40%, compression strength 25 to 70%, ;impact bending absorbed energy 4 to 74% and tensile strength 18 to 56%. Mulpurae-Namoo and Cheungcheung-Namoo with high polymer content have considerable high increasing rate of strengths. But incase of Karae-Namoo with inferior monomer impregnation it is very low. Polymer retention in cell wall is 0.32 to 0.70%. Most of the polymer is accumulated in cell lumen. Effective. of polymer retention is 58.59% for Mulpurae-Namoo, 26.27% for Seo-Namoo, 47.98% for Cheungcheung-Namoo, 25.64% for Korosae-Namoo, 9.96% for Karae-Namoo and 25.84% for Sanbud-Namoo.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2022

To realize the infinite possibilities of materials derived from wood, it is necessary to overcome the weak moisture stability of wood. Thus, the development of an eco-friendly hydrophobic coating agent is essential, and of these, woody biomass-based materials are strongly attractive as coatings. In this study, eco-friendly hydrophobic wood coatings were prepared using carnauba wax purified from palm leaves and sprouts, and kraft lignin. The physicochemical properties of the carnauba wax/lignin blends according to the ratio of carnauba wax and lignin were observed by morphology and functional group change. In addition, the coating performance of carnauba wax/lignin blend coatings was confirmed by measuring the contact angle change. It was found that the addition of lignin could accelerate the atomization of wax particles, and that micro-roughness can be realized when applied to the actual wood surface, to ensure that the coating effect over time lasts longer. In addition, it was confirmed that the addition of lignin increases the hydrogen-bond-based interaction with the wood of the coating, thereby providing better coating stability and increasing the durability of the coating solvent under friction. The carnauba wax/lignin paint developed in this way is eco-friendly because all components are made of wood-based raw materials and have an excellent affinity with wood surfaces. Therefore, it is expected to be applicable to the coating process of wood-plastic composites and timber composites.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.48-58
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• 2002

This study was carried out through scanning electron microscopy to elucidate the mechanism of thickness swelling in wood particle-polypropylene composite which is a typical way of using wood and plastic materials. For this purpose, control particleboards and nonwoven web composites from wood particle and polypropylene fiber formulations of 100:0, 70:30, 60:40, and 50:50 were manufactured at target density levels of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 g/cm³. Their water absorption and thickness swelling were tested according to ASTMD 1037-93 (1995). To elucidate thickness swelling mechanism of composite through the observation of morphological change of internal structures, the specimens before and after thickness swelling test by 24-hour immersion in water were used in scanning electron microscopy. From the scanning electron microscopy, thickness swelling of composite was thought to be caused by the complicated factors of degree of built-up internal stresses by mat compression and/or amount of wood particles encapsulated with molten polypropylene fibers during hot pressing. In the composites with wood particle contents of 50 to 60% at target densities of 0.5 to 0.8 g/cm³ and with wood particle content of 70% at target densities of 0.5 to 0.7 g/cm³, thickness swellings seemed to be largely dependent upon the restricted water uptake by encapsulated wood particles with molten polypropylene fibers. Thickness swelling in the composite with wood particle content of 70% at target density of 0.8 g/cm³, however, was thought to be principally dependent upon the increased springback phenomenon by built-up internal stresses of compressed mat.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.572-579
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• 2017

Determination of the wood content in wood plastic composite (WPC) is crucial to form reliable WPC market. WPC with simple formulation consisting of only two components (wood flour and polypropylene) was examined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for determining wood content in the WPC. TGA method using derivative peak temperature (DTp) of polypropylene under low heating rate ($5^{\circ}C/min$) showed more reliable calibration curve and lower error factor compared to method of using the percentage of weight loss of wood flour. In addition, AMS using bio-based carbon content showed greater reliability for the determination of wood content in the WPC in comparison with the TGA method.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.278-286
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• 2007

As a part of enhancing the performance of wood-plastic composites (WPC), polypropylene (PP)/ nanoclay (NC)/ wood flour (WF) nanocomposites were prepared using melt blending and injection molding process to evaluate their thermal stability. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to investigate thermal degradation kinetics of the nanocomposites both dynamic and isothermal conditions. Dynamic scans of the TGA showed an increased thermal stability of the nanocomposites at moderate wood flour concentrations (up to 20 phr, percentage based on hundred percent resin) while it decreased with the addition of 30 phr wood flour. The activation energy $(E_a)$ of thermal degradation of nanocomposites increased when nanoclay was added and the concentration of wood flour increased. Different equations were used to evaluate isothermal degradation kinetics using the rate of thermal degradation of the composites, expressed as weight loss (%) from their isothermal TGA curves. Degradation occurred at faster rate in the initial stages of about 60 min., and then proceeded in a gradual manner. However, nanocomposites with wood flour of 30 phr heated at $300^{\circ}C$ showed a drastic difference in their degradation behavior, and reached almost a complete decomposition after 40 min. of the isothermal heating. The degree of decomposition was greater at higher temperatures, and the residual weight of isothermal degradation of nanocomposites greatly varied from about 10 to 90%, depending on isothermal temperatures. The isothermal degradation of nanocomposites also increased their thermal stability with the addition of 1 phr nanoclay and of wood flour up to 20 phr. But, the degradation of PP100/NC1/MAPP3/WF30 nanocomposites with 30 phr wood flour occurs at a faster rate compared to those of the others, indicating a decrease in their thermal stability.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.505-516
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• 2009

The effects of wood species, particle size of wood flours and coupling treatment on the mechanical properties of wood plastic composites (WPC) are investigated in this study. Chemical components of wood flour from 3 different wood species were analyzed by the chemical analysis. Wood flours of 40~60 mesh and 80~100 mesh were manufactured from Larix (Larix kaempferi Lamb.), Quercus (Quercus accutisima Carr.), and Maackia (Maackia amuresis Rupr. et Maxim). The wood flours were reinforced into polypropylene (PP) by melt compounding and injection molding, then tensile, flexural, and impact strength properties were analyzed. The order of alpha-cellulose content in wood is Quercus (43.6%), Maackia (41.3%) and Larix (36.2%). The order of lignin content in wood is Larix (31.6%), Maackia (24.7%), and Quercus accutisima (24.4%). The content of extractives in wood is in the order of Larix (8.5%), Maackia (4.4%), and Quercus accutisima (3.9%). As the content of alpha-cellulose increases and the lignin and extractives decreases, tensile and flexural strengths of the WPC increase. At the same loading level of wood flours, the smaller particle size (80~100 mesh) of wood flours showed highly improved tensile and flexural strengths, compared to the larger one (40~60 mesh). The impact strength of the WPC was not significantly affected by the wood species, but the wood flours of larger particle size showed better impact strengths. The addition of maleated polypropylene (MAPP) provided the highly improved tensile, flexural and impact strengths. Morphological analysis shows improved interfacial bonding with MAPP treatment for the composites.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.67-72
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• 2004

Wood/polyethylene panels were manufactured from Populus alba × glandulosa particles and low density polyethylene particles at three mixing rates, 50:50, 60:40, and 70:30. A total of 15 wood/polyethylene panels was made at 145℃ and 5 minutes hot-press time. Wood/polyethylene panels were tested for internal bond, bending, and dimensional stabilities such as thickness swell and water absorption. Panel performance data were analyzed using the SAS programing package. The test results of the wood/polyethylene panels showed that as the polyethylene mixing rates were increased, the panel property values increased. Based on panels' dimensional stabilities, the optimum wood/polyethylene mixing ratio appeared to be 60:40.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.823-826
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• 2014

The weight of soundproof panels is an important consideration in the design of both panels and supporting structures. The soundproof panels in noise barriers have to carry their net weight in wet condition respectively the reduced weight and also the weight of the above installed panels in wet condition without showing any failing. In this study, a compression test and a flexural test were performed to determine the maximum vertical load which a wood plastic composites (WPC) panel can bear. In addition, the maximum loading number and height of WPC panels in a noise barrier were calculated for full, simple, and continuous support conditions.