Untitled Document Utilization of Wood Fiber Derived from Scrap Pallets in Polypropylene Composites . Nicole M. Stark, Forest Products Laboratory. Wood pallets and shipping crates represent a large source of raw material available for use in value-added composites.
Wood flour is currently the most common wood-derived filler used in the plastics industry.
Moving from a particulate filler like wood flour to a reinforcing fiber results in property enhancements. In this study, the use of fiber derived from wood pallets and shipping crates as a filler for polypropylene resulted in tensile and flexural strength improvements when compared to wood flour filled polypropylene. The addition of stearic acid to these composites to increase dispersion of the wood filler in the polypropylene did not improve properties, however the addition of maleated polypropylene to improve the interfacial adhesion between the two phases resulted in strength improvements.