Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Plant Polymer Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #366023
Research Project: Conversion of Polysaccharides and Other Bio-based Materials to High-Value, Commercial Products

Location: Plant Polymer Research

Title: Mechanical properties and water absorption behavior of injection molded wood fiber/carbon fiber high density polyethylene hybrid composites

Author
item GUO, GANGJIAN - Bradley University
item Finkenstadt, Victoria
item NIMMAGADDA, YUGANDHAR - Bradley University

Submitted to: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/20/2019
Publication Date: 8/29/2019
Citation: Guo, G., Finkenstadt, V.L., Nimmagadda, Y. 2019. Mechanical properties and water absorption behavior of injection molded wood fiber/carbon fiber high density polyethylene hybrid composites. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials. 2, 690-700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-019-00116-5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-019-00116-5

Interpretive Summary: Increased use of renewably-sourced materials (biomass) with commodity plastics (such as polyethylene) in composite materials is being driven by consumer demand and industry's search for low cost fillers that have low environmental impact. Biomass is biodegradable and increases the recyclability of commodity plastics while lowering the cost of the overall product. The introduction of woody biomass, though, sometimes lowers the ultimate strength of the composite; therefore the introduction of carbon fibers in a very small amount can overcome this disadvantage without increasing the cost significantly. Production costs (time, money, energy) can be significantly reduced by using a direct injection molding process rather than extrusion compounding followed by injection molding.

Technical Abstract: High density polyethylene (HDPE) has been widely used to make wood-plastic composites (WPC) in the past decade for building materials, automotive, packaging and furniture industry. However, the applications of WPC have been limited due to their relatively poor mechanical properties. To address this issue, this study introduced a small of amount of lightweight and high strength carbon fiber (CF) into the WPC matrix to make hybrid composites through a cost effective direct injection molding process. This paper investigated the mechanical properties and water absorption behaviors of hybrid HDPE composites with wood fiber (WF) and CF. Compared to WPC with the same fiber loading, the hybrid composites had a 40% increase in tensile strength and a 253% increase in tensile modulus. The effects of water absorption on the mechanical properties of hybrid composites were interpreted with two competing mechanisms (i.e., interfacial bond weakening and fiber swelling). The implication of this study is that WPC manufacturers may consider using a small amount of CF (e.g., 5-10 wt%) in direct injection molding to enhance the mechanical properties to expand their application markets without additional operating costs.