PMID- 37765518
OWN - NLM
STAT- Publisher
LR  - 20230930
IS  - 2073-4360 (Electronic)
IS  - 2073-4360 (Linking)
VI  - 15
IP  - 18
DP  - 2023 Sep 6
TI  - ZnO Treatment on Mechanical Behavior of Polyethylene/Yellow Birch Fiber 
      Composites When Exposed to Fungal Wood Rot.
LID - 10.3390/polym15183664 [doi]
LID - 3664
AB  - Wood plastic composite (WPC) usage and demand have increased because of its 
      interesting chemical and mechanical properties compared to other plastic 
      materials. However, there is a possibility of structural and mechanical changes 
      to the material when exposed to the external environment; most research on wood 
      plastic is performed on the material with elevated fiber content (40-70%). 
      Therefore, more research needs to be performed regarding these issues, especially 
      when the fiber content of the WPC is low. In this study, composite materials 
      composed of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with yellow birch fibers 
      (20 and 30%) were made by injection molding. The fibers were treated with 
      dissolved zinc oxide (ZnO) powder in sodium oxide (NaOH) solution, and the 
      fabricated material was exposed to fungal rot. ZnO treatment in this case is 
      different from most studies because ZnO nanoparticles are usually employed. The 
      main reason was to obtain better fixation of ZnO on the fibers. The mechanical 
      properties of the composites were assessed by the tensile and Izod impact tests. 
      The impact energies of the samples fabricated with ZnO-treated fibers and exposed 
      to Gloephyllum trabeum and Trametes versicolor decreased, when compared to 
      samples fabricated with ZnO-nontreated fibers. The mechanical properties of the 
      samples composed of ZnO-treated fibers and exposed to rot decreased, which were 
      reported by a decreased Young's modulus and impact energies. The usage of ZnO 
      treatment prevented mycelium proliferation, which was nonexistent on the samples. 
      It has been noted that the decrease in mechanical properties of the treated 
      samples was because of the action of NaOH used to dissolve the ZnO powder.
FAU - Agbozouhoue, Kodjovi Kekeli
AU  - Agbozouhoue KK
AD  - Innovations Institute in Ecomaterials, Ecoproducts and Ecoenergy (I2E3), 
      Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (UQTR), C.P. 500, Trois-Rivieres, QC G9A 
      5H7, Canada.
FAU - Koffi, Demagna
AU  - Koffi D
AD  - Innovations Institute in Ecomaterials, Ecoproducts and Ecoenergy (I2E3), 
      Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (UQTR), C.P. 500, Trois-Rivieres, QC G9A 
      5H7, Canada.
FAU - Erchiqui, Fouad
AU  - Erchiqui F
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3208-6801
AD  - Laboratory of Bioplastic and nanomaterials, School of Engineering, Universite du 
      Quebec en Abitibi Temiscamingue (UQAT), 445 Bd de l'Universite, Rouyn-Noranda, QC 
      J9X 5E4, Canada.
FAU - Barnabe, Simon
AU  - Barnabe S
AD  - Innovations Institute in Ecomaterials, Ecoproducts and Ecoenergy (I2E3), 
      Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (UQTR), C.P. 500, Trois-Rivieres, QC G9A 
      5H7, Canada.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230906
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Polymers (Basel)
JT  - Polymers
JID - 101545357
PMC - PMC10536498
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Gloephyllum trabeum
OT  - Trametes versicolor
OT  - Young's modulus
OT  - composite
OT  - impact energy
OT  - mycelium
OT  - zinc oxide
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/09/28 06:42
MHDA- 2023/09/28 06:42
PMCR- 2023/09/06
CRDT- 2023/09/28 01:40
PHST- 2023/07/31 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/08/27 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/09/02 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/09/28 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2023/09/28 06:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/09/28 01:40 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/09/06 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - polym15183664 [pii]
AID - polymers-15-03664 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/polym15183664 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Polymers (Basel). 2023 Sep 6;15(18):3664. doi: 10.3390/polym15183664.