Modification of fast growing poplar with styrene and glycidyl methacrylate

Abstract

Chemical modification of fast growing poplar was carried out by impregnating wood with styrene (ST) as an impregnating monomer and in combination with a cross-linking monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). In situ polymerisation was performed by a catalyst thermal procedure. Monomer retention by volume (MR_v) and monomer retention by weight (MR_w) were investigated and the results showed that MR_v of ST-GMA is somewhat more than that of ST, which indicated that the permeability into fast growing poplar of GMA is a little better than that of ST under vacuum pressure process. However, the MR_w of ST was significantly less than that of ST-GMA, which can be ascribed to different monomer density. Then, FTIR spectroscopy analysis showed that cross-linking reaction had happened between wood, ST and GMA due to the presence of both terminal double bond and the epoxy group of GMA. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) indicated that the thermal stability of fast growing poplar has been significantly improved after modification by polymer. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) observation showed that the vessels and lumens of wood samples were not only uniformly filled by polymers, but also the interface was difficult to distinguish (between cell wall and polymer) after modification by the ST and ST-GMA.