Evaluation of interfacial compatibility in wood flour/polypropylene composites by using dynamic thermomechanical analysis

Abstract Wood‐plastic composites (WPCs) manufactured from tomentose wood flour and polypropylene (PP) was studied in this article. The interfacial compatibility before and after the addition of the coupling agent was evaluated by dynamic thermodynamic analysis, Fourier transforms infrared (FT‐IR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effects of the coupling agent on the interfacial compatibility of WPCs were studied. The results indicated that the bending properties of the composite material after adding the coupling agent are greater than that without the coupling agent. And WPCs have the best performance when the coupling agent is added at 2%. The storage modulus E' of the composite material decreases with the increase in temperature and increases with the increase of frequency. At high frequencies, the composite has higher structural stability. After the coupling agent is added, the storage modulus E' significantly improved, and the interface bonding strength has increased accordingly. After the coupling agent is added, the apparent activation energy and the glass transition temperature of the composite material increase during the relaxation process.