Preparation and properties of high-strength and waterproofing wood-derived bioplastic
With people's pursuit of convenience and technological advancement,a wide variety of plastic products have begun to enter the homes of millions of people.However,the accumulation of plastic products has severely burdened the natural soil and water resources.At the same time,the incineration method used to eliminate plastic products will bring highly toxic substances into the air.The"white pollution"caused by abusing petroleum-based plastic products seriously harms the natural environment and human physical and mental health.Therefore,wood-derived bioplastics based on forest biomass resources have become the first choice to replace traditional plastics because of their biode-gradability and sustainable development.Nevertheless,poor water-resistant and low mechanical properties of most wood-derived bioplastics greatly hinder their practical applications.In this regard,this work proposed a green and fa-cile approach to utilize the three-dimensional porous structure and oriented arrangement of cellulose fibers of natural balsa wood to fabricate bioplastics,in which the wood-derived bioplastics were prepared by hot-pressing after in-situ distribution of polyamide epichlorohydrin(PAE).PAE is a non-toxic water-soluble cationic thermosetting resin and has advantages of low cost,environmentally friendly,low dosage,and good effect of humidification and strength.The effects of different PAE contents on the dry and wet strengths of wood-derived bioplastics were investigated.The examination results of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD),and scanning electron microscope(SEM)showed the successful introduction of PAE into wood structure.The wood-de-rived bioplastics demonstrated a tight directional arrangement of wood fiber structure after densification,which con-tributed to the enhanced tensile strength and improved water-resistant of the wood-derived bioplastics.The mechanical properties of wood-derived bioplastics with PAE content of 10%exhibited an excellent dry strength(289 MPa),which was 25 times higher than that of natural balsa wood.The wet strength value was also the highest(up to 161 MPa)at 10%PAE content,14 times higher than that of natural balsa wood.The results showed that the ester bond formed by the co-crosslinking reaction between PAE and cellulose played a crucial role in improving the wet strength of wood-derived bioplastics.The results of biodegradation experiment of the commercial plastics and wood-derived bioplastics presented that the wood-derived bioplastic possessed good degradability,and it can be completely degraded in soil within five months,which has practical significance for reducing"white pollution".This strategy is simple and easy to use to prepare wood-derived derivatives.The wood-derived bioplastics prepared in this study have excellent mechanical properties,water-resistant and degradability and have potential applications prospect in replacing petroleum-based plastics.
natural balsa woodPAEwood-derived bioplastichigh-strength and water stability