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Wood Flour Treated with Pickering Emulsion Could Improve Its Composites with High-Density Polyethylene?
* 1 , 1 , 2
1  Nanjing Forestry University
2  Beijing Forestry University

Abstract:

Silica synergistically stabilized paraffin Pickering emulsion is applied to modify wood flour (WF) for preparing wood/polymer composites. The effect of Pickering emulsion on properties of the WF and its composites with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is investigated. The impregnation of paraffin Pickering emulsion could significantly improve the WF dispersion in HDPE matrix, resulting in increased melt flow index (MFI). It increased from 1.3 g/10 min (control) to 2.1 g/10 min (Pickering treatment) due to the lubrication of paraffin and rolling friction provided by silica nanoparticles. The hydrophobicity of the WF was improved by the penetration of paraffin and silica in the cell wall, which could consume the hydroxyl groups in WFs via hydrogen bonding. Owing to the well distribution of WFs and silica, the mechanical properties and surface hardness of the composites were enhanced obviously. The optimal tensile strength and impact strength increased 23% (18.28 MPa) and 32% (14.16 kJ/m2), respectively. It also could be attributed to the improved interfacial compatibility due to the incorporation of surfactants (Span 80 and Tween 80), which acted as a coupling agent. Furthermore, the silica incorporated in the WF could compensate the negative effect of paraffin on thermal stability of the composites. A model concerning the interactions in the composites was proposed based on the research results.

Keywords: paraffin Pickering emulsion; wood flour treatment; high-density polyethylene; wood/polymer composites; properties analysis
Comments on this paper
Ana Maria Diez-Pascual
Comment on 10.3390/CGPM2020-07158
Thanks for the interesting paper. The incorporation of synthetic surfactants could make the composite less friendly. Have you tried any biosurfactant?
Jun Jiang
Many thanks for your comments. The surfactant could provide a better emulsion stability, helping the adsorption of particles at oil-water interface. We are trying to study any other surfactant to make the composites more friendly. We would appreciate it if you gave some suggestions.

Best regards,

Jun



 
 
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