TY - JOUR
T1 - Preparation, processing and characterization of biodegradable wood flour/starch-cellulose acetate compounds
AU - Cunha, A. M.
AU - Liu, Z. Q.
AU - Feng, Y.
AU - Yi, X. S.
AU - Bernardo, C. A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Portuguese Institute for International Scientific and Technological Co-operation (ICCTI) through the Scientific Co-operation Agreement between Portugal and the People’s Republic of China (Proc. 423/China). One of the authors also acknowledges the postdoctoral grant received from the Foundation for Science and Technology in Portugal.
PY - 2001/10/15
Y1 - 2001/10/15
N2 - A novel biodegradable material was prepared by compounding, in different proportions, pine wood flour (WF) and a commercial starch-cellulose acetate blend on a configurable co-rotating twin screw extruder. After pelletizing, the compounds were injection moulded and the mechanical and rheological properties of the mouldings determined. As the content of wood flour increases up to 50% (wt/wt), the tensile strength and the modulus improve significantly, whereas the toughness drops gradually. The effect of the wood flour content on the shear viscosity is complex, being impossible to establish a linear relationship between the two. The shear viscosity decreases with shear rate, but for a level of 40% and 50% of WF there is evidence for a quasi-Newtonian behaviour, irrespective of the test temperature. Compounds with 50% WF present the highest tensile and strength and modulus but are difficult to process. However, the processability can be improved by using glycerol as plasticizer, without paying a too severe penalty in mechanical properties. In fact, by adding 15% glycerol (wt/wt), compounds with 50% WF can be successfully injection moulded into specimens with good mechanical properties.
AB - A novel biodegradable material was prepared by compounding, in different proportions, pine wood flour (WF) and a commercial starch-cellulose acetate blend on a configurable co-rotating twin screw extruder. After pelletizing, the compounds were injection moulded and the mechanical and rheological properties of the mouldings determined. As the content of wood flour increases up to 50% (wt/wt), the tensile strength and the modulus improve significantly, whereas the toughness drops gradually. The effect of the wood flour content on the shear viscosity is complex, being impossible to establish a linear relationship between the two. The shear viscosity decreases with shear rate, but for a level of 40% and 50% of WF there is evidence for a quasi-Newtonian behaviour, irrespective of the test temperature. Compounds with 50% WF present the highest tensile and strength and modulus but are difficult to process. However, the processability can be improved by using glycerol as plasticizer, without paying a too severe penalty in mechanical properties. In fact, by adding 15% glycerol (wt/wt), compounds with 50% WF can be successfully injection moulded into specimens with good mechanical properties.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035888503&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/A:1011836220064
DO - 10.1023/A:1011836220064
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035888503
SN - 0022-2461
VL - 36
SP - 4903
EP - 4909
JO - Journal of Materials Science
JF - Journal of Materials Science
IS - 20
ER -