Development of wood-plastic composites based on wood particles and dried blood

Target of the current investigation on wood-plastic composites (WPC) is the improvement of its characteristics by adding dried blood. Especially the swelling behavior of WPC in water and bonding between polymer and wood components can be enhanced by cross-linking reactions of wood particles and the protein albumin.Conventional WPC are based on polyolefins or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The substitution of the petrol based polymer with a biological equivalent leads to bio based materials with all benefits of green bio composite. Therefor three different bio polymers (PA10.10, PLA, PHA) were examined with each of them having assets and drawbacks on their respective material characteristics.In a co-rotating twin screw extruder the polymer is melted and then compounded with a mixture of wood particles and dried blood, so temperature is a critical factor. On one hand it is important to melt the entirety of the granules, but on the other hand the wood particles and the dried blood are sensitive to heat. Due to co...