Development of wood plastic composite with reduced water absorption
In this work, wood-plastic composites were developed using plastic lumber (recycled high-density polyethylene, or rHDPE) and wood residues (sawdust). First, raw materials were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Second, the formulations of rHDPE/sawdust (100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, weight percentage) were mixed manually and processed by extrusion in a twin-screw extruder (TeckTril, DCT model) equipped with ten temperatures zones. The pelletized samples obtained by extrusion were pressed to obtain the films.