EFFECT OF WOOD PARTICLE CHARACTERISTICS ON THE PROPERTIES OF WOOD POLYMER COMPOSITES

Abstract

The effects of wood particle on the properties of wood polymer composites (WPCs) and its application in the construction industry have been investigated. Using compression moulding technique, virgin low density polyethylene (matrix) was reinforced with sawdust (Akpontu, Madobia and Melina) which function as the fillers in the presence of sodium hydroxide (binder). Upon examination of the test specimens manufactured, it became clear that soft woods possess better mechanical strengths than hard woods. For the hard wood, however, 40% was found to be the best composition for wood particle reinforcement. Increasing particle load of madobia improved the strength and stiffness of the composites but decreased the energy required to break. It was found out that water uptake increased with increasing filler content in agreement with earlier research reports. The result however suggested that water absorption rate of WPC was high in the first few hours. 50 wt% for akpontu absorbed the slowest in the first 96 hours while 30 wt% completely stopped absorbing water after reaching it saturation point in the first 96 hours. 40 wt% of wood reinforcement has the highest overall water absorption. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the interfacial interactions between the components of the composites.