Towards Sustainable Wood Fillers from Agroforestry for Wood-Plastic Composites : Effect of Filler Size and Wood Species
Résumé
Current environmental concerns push towards more sustainable and local practices for
biomass production. In this regard, agroforestry has been highlighted by researchers and policies
as a highly efficient approach for carbon sequestration (between 1.5 and 4 t C/ha/year), and a
sustainable alternative to deforestation with many agricultural benefits: deeper rooting of trees in
soil, enhanced biomass productivity, crop fertilization... Agroforestry implies regular branch cuts
that are processed into wood chips and mostly used as energy wood or soil mulching. New
higher added-value chains could be considered such as reinforcements or specific molecules for
bio-based materials and chemistry.
Besides, since 90’s, Wood-Plastic Composites (WPCs) have experienced significant
growth, particularly in building (decking & siding), and constitute the largest share of bio-based
composites developed at an industrial scale. Nevertheless, the quality of WPCs and variability in
their performance are major technological issues for their implementation in industrial
applications. This could be related to the difficulty in tracing the various origin of wood fillers as
well as the different processing steps, from wood drying and defibration process to composite
manufacturing, that are not well controlled. Indeed, numerous interdependent parameters govern
the final properties of WPCs, such as biochemical composition, presence of metallic and
chemical contaminants (binders, wood treatment residues, varnishes, etc.), (micro)structure,
thermal stability, mechanical properties of wood fillers, and the control of their
milling/granulometry and further processing into composite materials.
In this context, the development of quality-controlled agroforestry wood fillers in terms of
granulometry (size and shape factor), chemical composition and physical (microstructure,
mechanical) properties is therefore strategic for their implementation in wood-based products.
This work investigates and evidences the influence of wood species (poplar, oak, walnut,
chestnut)) and filler size and shape on the microstructure and mechanical properties of
polypropylene (PP) / wood composites manufactured by extrusion/injection moulded. Moreover,
wood from three recovery platforms in Brittany (mix of several species) was also investigated to
evaluate the potential of existing agroforestry feedstocks.