Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective High-Density Polyethylene-Based Composites: Optimizing Wood-Plastic Composites for...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Sustainable Materials

Background:

• Petroleum-based products contribute to global warming.
• Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) offer an economically and ecologically viable alternative.
• Developing sustainable composite materials is crucial for environmental protection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To produce, optimize, and characterize high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-based WPCs with sawdust (St) and fiberglass (FG) without compatibilizers.
• To determine the optimal composition of St and FG for enhanced compressive strength.
• To evaluate the mechanical properties, density, moisture retention, and cost-effectiveness of the developed WPCs.

Main Methods:

• Simplex Lattice mixture design was employed to optimize St and FG content for compressive strength.
• Extensive characterization of WPCs included density, moisture retention, and mechanical property testing.
• Microstructural analysis was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS).

Main Results:

• The optimized WPC with 40% sawdust (40 St) exhibited the highest compressive strength (11.034 kN), a 17.3% improvement over the control.
• Composites showed densities from 780 to 987 kg/m³, low moisture retention (0.83-2.45%), and mechanical properties of 0.97-10.89 kN.
• SEM micrographs indicated homogeneous material distribution, and EDS confirmed random silicon distribution.

Conclusions:

• The 40 St WPC demonstrates superior compression resistance and significant cost reduction (37%) compared to pure HDPE.
• This wood-plastic composite offers a sustainable alternative, potentially reducing carbon emissions and production costs.
• The optimized 40 St WPC shows promising potential for market applications in various industries.