EFFECT OF WEATHERING ON PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HYBRID NANOCOMPOSITE BASED ON POLYETHYLENE, WOODFLOUR AND NANOCLAY

Wood plastic composites have received increasing attention during the last decades, because of many advantages related to their use. However the durability of Wood plastic composites after ultraviolet exposure has become a concern. In this research, hybrid nanocomposites of polyethylene and woodflour with different concentrations of nanoclay were fabricated using melt compounding followed by injection molding. Specimens were exposed for 2000 h to ultraviolet radiation and moisture cycling in a laboratory weathering device to simulate the effects of exposure to sunlight and rain. Physical and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were evaluated, before and after weathering. The results indicated that the water absorption of wood plastic composites increased after weathering but nanoclay reduced the intensity of weathering to some extent, through decreasing of water absorption. Also results showed that weathering decreased modulus of elasticity values, however good dispersion of clay layers resulted in fewer drop of modulus of elasticity values. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that lowest carbonyl index is related to the nano wood plastic composites with 2wt% nanoclay. Also X-Ray diffraction patterns revealed that intercalation morphology has been formed for nano particles.