Development and mechanical properties of straw-polyethylene imitation rattan material with wheat straw fibre

ABSTRACT

A new type of imitation rattan was developed via a two-step method that used modified wheat straw as the raw materials and low-density polyethylene to make up wood plastic composite. Post-modification, a graft condensation reaction was carried out between silane as a coupling agent and wheat straw powder, which improved the thermal stability of the composite. A high level of contact and interaction at the fibre-matrix interface was observed. The optimum formula for the first step was 80% wheat straw powder, 4% silane coupling agent, and 16% calcium carbonate, with a modification temperature of 120 °C sustained for 10 min. For the second step, the mechanical properties had been greatly improved with the addition of modified wheat straw fibre and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MA-g-PP). The use of 10% modified straw fibre and 5% MA-g-PP exhibited the highest tensile strength (8.75 MPa) and highest melt index (2.86 g/10 min). In particular, the MA-g-PP had an extremely advantage to the elastic modulus of wheat straw imitation rattan. The elastic modulus reached the maximum value of 2761.70 MPa at the amount of MA-g-PP added reached 5%. Our present study indicated the innovation of a new type of imitation rattan, which provides a new choice for utilizing wheat straw as industrial raw material, and other agricultural by-products containing liginocellulose could be used in a similar way.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Wheat straw
• thermoplastic composites
• modified
• imitated rattan
• mechanical properties

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments to improve the quality of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Jishuang Chen, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Jiangsu Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Bio-Manufacture: [Grant Number XTD1825]; Key Technologies R&D Program of Jiangsu Province: [Grant Number BE2020395]; Bidding Project of Zunyi Medical University: [Grant Number F-803]. Guizhou science and technology cooperation platform talents[2017]: [Grant number 5733-028].