Monofunctional compatibilizer with long alkyl end for fabrication of superior tensile wood flour-polyolefin composites

A novel monofunctional compatibilizer (OID) was prepared and used as compatibilizer for fabrication of wood-plastic composites. OID was successfully synthesized by esterification reaction of isophorone diisocyanate and octadecanol as confirmed by Fourier transform-infrared spectra. After OID modification, the hydrophobicity of wood flour surface was enhanced as indicated by the increase of surface water contact angle. By using OID as compatibilizer, an obvious enhancement of the interfacial adhesion between wood flour and polyolefin was observed by scanning electron microscopy. As a result, the tensile properties of the obtained polypropylene/wood flour composites and polyethylene/wood flour composites were significantly enhanced. Besides, the processability of polyolefin/wood flour composites was also improved by adding OID. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44429.