Chemical conversion of wood to thermoplastic material

✍ Scribed by Mitsuhiro Morita; Isao Sakata

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 511 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1986.070310307

✦ Synopsis

A chemically modified wood meal (CEwood) was prepared by cyanoethylation in the presence of alkaline salts. The temperature TI at which the wood could flow was measured by a simple mechanical flow tester. The CEwood demonstrated thermal flow at around 250°C. The T f value decreased with increasing cyanoethyl content of the wood. Treatment of the wood meal before cyanoethylation with sodium periodate or sodium chlorite lowered TP The flow temperature was also decreased by blending the CEwood with appropriate synthetic polymers or plasticizers. Treatment of CEwood with chlorine solution was found to be the most effective method of lowering T,. The T f value of the slightly chlorinated CEwood (C1 content=2%) was about 100°C lower than that of the original CEwood. The lowering of TI for CEwood by treatment with chlorine may be interpreted in terms of the plasticizing effect of chlorination on the lignin moiety in the wood.