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Title
Evaluation of properties of LDPE/oak wood composites exposed to artificial ageing
Authors
Raluca Nicoleta Darie Maria Bercea Marek Kozlowski and Iuliana Spiridon
Received
July 26, 2010
Published
Volume 45 Issue 1-2 January-February
Keywords
oak wood composites, artificial ageing, FT-IR, mechanical properties, dynamic rheology
Abstract
Due to their common use in outdoor applications, the durability of wood flour thermoplastic composites after ultraviolet exposure has become a special concern. Samples of 100% low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and LDPE filled with 10, 20, 30 wt% oak wood flour were melt-processed with a Brabender mixer and further weathered in an accelerated weathering chamber up to 500 h. The changes occurring in composites aged under controlled conditions were evaluated in comparison with the initial composites by measuring their mechanical properties and as well as by FT-IR spectroscopy. Melt processing was studied, while mechanical evaluation has been performed to follow composites behaviour on tensile and impact tests. The obtained results showed that, after accelerated weathering, the composites retain a higher fraction of the original mechanical properties. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to monitor the changes of carbonyl and vinyl groups and dynamic rheology was used to evaluate the viscoelastic behaviour of the studied composites.
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