New Monomers Used in Making Wood-Plastics

Basswood, eastern white pine, and sugar maple samples were impregnated with three different monomers, using various treatment conditions, and cured by the catalyst-heat technique. The basic monomers were t-butyl styrene, Heilman-Gulf expoxy monomer, and methyl methacrylate. Monomer systems were selected to give variations in concentration, vapor pressure, shrinkage during polymerization, and crosslinking. A low vapor pressure monomer, such as t-butyl styrene, with its low shrinkage during polymerization resulted in nearly complete filling of the void space. Hardness and static bending properties were improved with increased polymer loading, and even further improved when the polymer was highly crosslinked. Polymer impregnation had no significant effect on the impact strength of ovendry wood. Monomers diluted with a substantial amount of organic solvent entered the cell walls and improved the antishrink efficiency, but had negligible effect on the mechanical properties.

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