Analysis of Factors Affecting the Mildew Resistance of Wood-plastic Composite Materials

Wood-Plastic Composites (WPC for short) are new "green" building materials that are extruded from wood powder and thermoplastics in solid waste and have the excellent properties of polymer materials and wood fibers.Because of its two major advantages of saving resources and protecting the environment, demand at home and abroad has increased sharply in recent years. Due to the wood fibers in wood-plastic composites and the various organic additives added during the manufacturing process, such as lubricants, coupling agents, stabilizers and colorants, they are inevitably susceptible to mold and rot fungi during use. , causing the wood-plastic composite material to become mildewed, changing the appearance of the wood-plastic composite material and the performance of the material. Therefore, adding anti-mildew and antibacterial agents has become one of the main methods and means to protect wood-plastic composite materials from the harm of mold and rot fungi.

However, the mildew resistance performance of wood-plastic composite materials is not only closely related to the reasonable selection and dosage technology of anti-mildew and antibacterial agents.Moreover, it is greatly affected by factors such as the microbial contamination of raw materials, the manufacturing process of wood-plastic composites, and the use environment of wood-plastic composite products. Therefore, many problems have arisen in practical applications.For example: Wood-plastic composite materials added with antifungal agents failed to pass the mildew resistance test evaluation; while wood-plastic composite material products that passed the mildew resistance test evaluation still showed mold contamination in the actual use environment, etc. These problems seriously affect the market promotion and application of wood-plastic composite materials and restrict the development of the industry.

Several factors that affect the mildew resistance of wood-plastic composites were analyzed, and it was proved that mold in the air environment, microorganisms in wood raw materials, production processes, and the environment in which wood plastics are used all have an impact on the mildew resistance of wood-plastic composites.In order to solve the mildew problem of wood-plastic composite materials in practical applications, it is recommended that wood-plastic composite material manufacturers base on factors such as the type of raw materials, processing technology, and environmental conditions of use of the products,Choose to add suitable anti-mildew and antibacterial agents to improve the mildew resistance of wood-plastic composite materials.