Characterization of organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) modified wood flour and properties of its composites with poly(lactic acid)

In this research, sodium-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) at four different concentrations (0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0% and 4.0%) and didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC) were used to modify wood flour (WF) in a two-step process to form organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) inside the WF. Then the WFs with three sizes were mixed with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to produce WF/PLA composites. The treated WF was characterized and some physical and mechanical properties of the composites were tested. The results showed that: (1) Na-MMT was successfully transformed to OMMT and uniformly distributed inside WF; (2) at 0.5% MMT concentration, water repellency, flexural and tensile properties of the composites were improved significantly. However, after introducing more OMMT, the enhancements diminished because of poor interfacial adhesion caused by OMMT agglomeration; (3) the composites with the maximum size of WF showed the most significant improvements among all, suggesting bigger WF was more suitable for this modification process.