Effects of Wood Preheat Treatment on Thermal Stability of HDPE Composites

Abstract

In this study, wood treated at different temperatures (175, 190, and 205°C) was used to ease the thermal instability caused by the introduction of wood to the composites. Composites consisting of different amounts of wood and coupling agent and HDPE were produced by the injection molding method. The mass loss measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used as a tool to evaluate thermal stability of the materials. The results of this study show that heat treatment of wood increased DTG_max degradation temperatures and ash contents of wood especially when treatments took place at 190 and 205°C. An increase in wood content from 25 to 50% made the composites more sensitive to high temperatures. In comparison with untreated wood/HDPE composites, adding heat treated wood to the composites increased the thermal stability and ash contents of the composites. Coupling agent enhanced thermal stability of the composites when untreated wood was used as filler. The role of coupling agent on thermal stability was imperceptible when heat treated wood was used as filler.