Biobased wood flour composites from soybean and linseed oils

Composites consisting of a conjugated linseed or soybean oil-based thermoset reinforced with wood flour and wood fibers have been prepared by free radical polymerization. The thermoset resin consists of a copolymer of conjugated linseed oil (CLO) or conjugated soybean oil (CSO), n-butyl methacrylate (BMA), divinylbenzene (DVB), and maleic anhydride (MA). The composites were cured at 180 °C and 600 psi and post-cured for two hours at 200 °C under atmospheric pressure. The effect of varying filler load, time of cure, filler particle size, origin of the fillers, and resin composition has been assessed by means of tensile tests, DMA, TGA, Soxhlet extraction followed by 1H NMR of the extracts, and DSC. The best processing conditions have been established for the pine wood flour composites presented here. It has been observed that addition of MA to the resin composition improves the filler-resin interaction.