Wheat-Straw–HDPE Composite Produced by the Hot-pressing Method

ABSTRACT: Wood fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites are usually manu-factured by the extrusion method. However, the size of the extruded board and bio-fibers are limited. The objective of this study was to manufacture large size straw– polymer composite panels by hot-pressing method, focusing on the forms of raw materials and heating method. Wheat straw was reduced to particles and high density polyethylene (HDPE) was processed into fibers or powders. After mixing, preheating, hot-pressing, and cooling, the resulted panels were tested for mechanical and water resistance properties. The data indicated that HDPE in the form of fiber presented better properties than those in powders and preheating treatment before hot-pressing was an effective way to improve the mechanical properties of the straw– PE composite. Coupling agent helped to improve the bonding strength