Wood-plastic composite using water soluble monomer

Abstract

Wood-plastic composite (WPC) has been prepared with simul using acrylamide (AM), a water soluble monomer, in place of styrene (ST) and butylmethacrylate (BA). The highest polymer loading (PL) is achieved with AM along with the highest tensile strengths (TS) among the three bulk monomers studied. Effect of urea, NVP and TMPTA has been investigated in these systems. Co-additive (urea) has played a significant role in presence of NVP and TMPTA with AM compared to ST and BA systems. Methanol, water and water/methanol mixtures have been used as swelling agents in order to study their effect on PL and T_f values. TS loss due to the weathering effect is minimum with the WPC, particularly if prepared with swelling agent methanol.