Resistance to weathering of wood-polypropylene and wood-wollastonite-polypropylene composites made with and without carbon black

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study natural and accelerated weathering of wood-polypropylene (WF-PP) and wood-wollastonite-polypropylene composites made with and without carbon black. Design/methodology/approach - Natural weathering was conducted in Ruokolahti, Finland in the time of year when solar radiation was maximal. The accelerated weathering tests included exposure to a xenon-arc source with and without spray, and a cyclic test consisting of water immersion-freeze-thaw stages. Findings - Both the type of weathering and the formulation of the composite determined the degree of change in their properties. Weathering, including xenon-arc exposure with spray resulted in much higher changes of colour of non-pigmented composites compared to natural weathering or xenon-arc weathering without spray. Both UV irradiation and moisture had an adverse effect on the Charpy impact strength of non-pigmented composites. Carbon black containing composites performed better than non-pigmented composites. Research limitations/implications - This study is a part of an ongoing research on the development of wood-polymer composites (WPCs) suitable for outdoor applications in Finnish climatic conditions. Outdoor weathering limited to 1,000 h cannot be used for the prediction of the service life of composites and was used here solely for comparative purposes. Originality/value - This paper will help to understand the effect of different weathering factors on the behaviour of WF-PP and wood-wollastonite-polypropylene composites made with and without carbon black (as UV stabiliser). The study demonstrated that while accelerated weathering tests provided useful information on the resistance of WF-PP composites to different weathering factors, they cannot be used alone to predict the behaviour of WPCs meant for outdoor application.