Short fibre filler from wood residue for polymeric composite materials

Abstract

A wood residue - sawdust of the mechanical processing of aspen (Populus tremula) wood - was used to obtain a short fibre filler in the form of the modified microparticles < 250 µm for polymeric composite materials. To reduce energy input for wood size reduction and the activation of the lignocellulosic matrix for modification, low temperature acid hydrolysis of the residue under mild conditions was carried out. The effect of the pre-treatment parameters (acid concentration, hydrolysis duration, hydromodulus) on the fractional and chemical composition as well as on the zeta potential and contact angle of the obtained filler were studied. A comparison of the mechanical properties (tensile, bending) of the composites filled with initial sawdust and hydrolysed microparticles modified with a non-stoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex showed a pronounced improvement of the mechanical properties of the composites filled with modified wood microparticles.