A Study on the Effect of Plasma Treatment for Waste Wood Biocomposites

The surface modification of wood powder by atmospheric pressure plasma treatment was investigated. The composites were manufactured using wood powder and polypropylene (wood powder: polypropylene = 55 wt% : 45 wt%). Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment was applied under the condition of 3KV, 17 + 1KHz, 2 g/min. Helium was used as the carrier gas and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as the monomer to modify the surface property of the waste wood biocomposites by plasma polymerization. The tensile strengths of untreated waste wood powder (W3) and single species wood powder (S3) were about 18.5 MPa and 21.5 MPa while those of plasma treated waste wood powder (PW3) and plasma treated single species wood powder (PS3) were about 21.2 MPa and 23.4 MPa, respectively. Tensile strengths of W3 and S3 were improved by 14.6% and 8.8%, respectively. From the analyses of mechanical properties and morphology, we conclude that the interfacial bonding of polypropylene and wood powder can be improved by atmospheric pressure plasma treatment.