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Rheological and mechanical properties of composites made from wood flour and recycled LDPE/HDPE blend

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Abstract

The effect of compounding method is studied with respect to the rheological behavior and mechanical properties of composites made of wood flour and a blend of two main components of plastics waste in municipal solid waste, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The effects of recycling process on the rheological behavior of LDPE and HDPE blends were investigated. Initially, samples of virgin LDPE and HDPE were thermo-mechanically degraded twice under controlled conditions in an extruder. The recycled materials and wood flour were then compounded by two different mixing methods: simultaneous mixing of all components and pre-mixing, including the blending of polymers in molten state, grinding and subsequent compounding with wood flour. The rheological and mechanical properties of the LDPE/HDPE blend and resultant composites were determined. The results showed that recycling increased the complex viscosity of the LDPE/HDPE blend and it exhibited miscible behavior in a molten state. Rheological testing indicated that the complex viscosity and storage modulus of the composites made by pre-mixing method were higher than that made by the simultaneous method. The results also showed that melt pre-mixing of the polymeric matrix (recycled LDPE and HDPE) improved the mechanical properties of the wood–plastic composites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wood and Fiber Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Masoudreza Habibi & Saeed Kazemi Najafi

  2. Wood and Forest Product Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

    Masoudreza Habibi

  3. Department of Plastics, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Ismail Ghasemi

Authors
  1. Masoudreza Habibi
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  2. Saeed Kazemi Najafi
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  3. Ismail Ghasemi
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Correspondence to Saeed Kazemi Najafi.

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Habibi, M., Kazemi Najafi, S. & Ghasemi, I. Rheological and mechanical properties of composites made from wood flour and recycled LDPE/HDPE blend. Iran Polym J 26, 949–956 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-017-0579-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-017-0579-0

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