Effects of maleic anhydride and glycidyl methacrylate on morphological and physical properties of styrene wood-polymer

The current research was planned to investigate the effect of maleic anhydride (MAN) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) treatments on morphological and physical properties of the hornbeam wood-styrene composite. Test samples were divided according to ASTM D4446-05 to control and treated with MAN, ST, MAN/ST and MAN /ST/GMA. Treatment was performed by vacuum- pressure method using a experimental cylinder. The presence of styrene in the cell cavities, swelling of treated wood with MAN and interaction between MAN/ST and MAN/ST/GMA with wood cell wall were confirmed by Scanning electron microscopy. According to the results, density and weight of the specimens were increased as 73.47 and 79.91; and 5.95 and 11.9% by addition of MAN and MAN/GMA, respectively. Strong interactions between wood structure and combination of MAN/ST/GMA led toan improvement in the compatibility of polymer with cell wall and reduction in porosity of the treated wood. hydrophobicity and dimensional stability of wood polymer composites were improved as the result of modification with MAN and impregnation with ST, so that after the longest immersion time, water absorption and dimensional changes in MAN/ST/GMA with 42/44% weight percent gain, decreased up to 57/78 and 50.15% in comparison with the untreated samples. The highest anti-swelling efficiency was determined in MAN/ST/GMA treatment.