Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Modifying wood veneer with silane coupling agent for decorating wood
fiber/high-density polyethylene composite
Yinan Liu a,b, Limin Guo a,c, Weihong Wang a,⇑, Yanan Sun a, Haigang Wang a
a
Northeast Forestry University, Key Laboratory of Bio-based Material Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin 150040, China
b
Heilongjiang Institute of Wood Science, Harbin 150040, China
c
Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China

h i g h l i g h t s

 Two kinds of silane coupling agents (r-aminopropyl triethoxy silane, KH550; and trimethoxy vinyl silane, A171) and dicumyl peroxide were used to bond
the wood fiber/high-density polyethylene (WF/HDPE) composite and wood veneer.
 Samples treated with A171 had higher bonding strength than those treated with KH550.
 The greater the volume of wood fiber in the WF/HDPE, the poorer the bonding strength of the veneer and the lower its water resistance.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Because of the smooth, dense, and nonpolar surface of wood-plastic composites (WPCs), it is challenging
Received 25 March 2019 to form an efficient bonding interface between the WPC and the material of the wood veneer by using
Received in revised form 27 June 2019 traditional adhesives. In this study, two kinds of silane coupling agents (r-aminopropyl triethoxy silane,
Accepted 11 July 2019
production number KH550; and trimethoxy vinyl silane, production number A171) and dicumyl peroxide
were used to improve the bond between the wood fiber/high-density polyethylene (WF/HDPE) compos-
ite and the wood veneer. The attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy curve
Keywords:
shows that the two kinds of silane coupling agents were grafted to the surface of the wood veneer,
Wood veneer
Decoration
and the contact angle between distilled water and the veneer surface increased from 46° to greater than
Wood-plastic composite 120° after treatment. The bonding strength between the treated veneer and the WF/HDPE composite was
Silane coupling agent significantly enhanced, and samples treated with A171 had higher bonding strength than those treated
Dicumyl peroxide with KH550. The greater the volume of wood fiber in the WF/HDPE, the poorer the bonding strength
of the veneer and the lower its water resistance. Images from a scanning electron microscope show that
the silane coupling agent A171 can induce a denser interface between the wood veneer and the WF/HDPE
composite.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) are mainly composed of wood
fibers and plastic. These thermoplastics, including polyolefin, high-
density polyethylene, and polypropylene, are usually recycled
[1,2]. Their impressive physical properties, dimensional stability,
and low toxic fumes’ emissions render them suitable for applica-
tion to many environments, such as in outdoor construction and
the automotive industry [3–5]. The WPC is a promising means of
⇑ Corresponding author at: Northeast Forestry University, Key Laboratory of
Bio-based Material Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, Harbin 150040,
China.
E-mail address: weihongwang2001@nefu.edu.cn (W. Wang).
using recycled plastics and thus reducing pollution. However, this
type of environmentally friendly composite has been rarely applied
to indoor space as floor and wallboard owing to its unappealing
texture, which is similar to that of plastic. It is challenging for
WPCs to be coated with wood veneer because a layer of plastic is
concentrated on the surface. Timber veneer and this plastic layer
can form an effective bonding neither physically nor chemically
because these two kinds of materials are very different in their sur-
face characteristics and are difficult to combine well [6,7]. Such
traditional adhesives as phenol and urea formaldehyde resin do
not react with the nonpolar polyolefin surface of WPCs [8]. More-
over, the plastic concentrated on the WPC surface is smooth and
nonporous, and prevents adhesive liquid from penetrating into
the WPC substrate. Thus, a method is needed to bond these two

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.090
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
692 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699
kinds of materials to coat the WPC with aesthetically pleasing
wood.
In recent years, surface treatment was investigated mainly
including plasma and acid oxidization. Plasma discharge [9] and
acid oxyfluorination treatment [10] approach to increase oxygen-
containing groups such as CAOH, C@O and O@CHO, thereby
increasing surface adhesive property. However, these types of
treatment are confined by some problems, such as effectiveness
sustainability and acid liquor pollution. A coupling agent has often
been reported to help in the bonding of materials with very differ-
ent physical and chemical characteristics and enhancing the syn-
thesized properties of the composite. As one of a variety coupling
agents, silane can provide remarkable interfacial compatibility in
wood-plastic composites [11]. The alkyl group of silanes may
enhance physical compatibility with the nonpolar matrix owing
to their similar polarities. On the contrary, the alkoxy group can
hydrolyze (REACTION 1) and react with the hydroxyl on the molec-
ular surface of wood, such as poplar (REACTION 2). This kind of
bifunctional structure can form a ‘‘molecule bridge” between the
materials [12]. Chen et al. employed the synergistic effect of hot
air and 3-glycidyl ether oxypropyl trimethoxysilane (epoxy) silane
as coupling agent (A-187) to treat wood fibers. They found that a
higher temperature and more silane than in the untreated group
can disperse wood fibers more uniformly and yield better perfor-
mance in composites [13]. Yosuke et al. reported that the tribolog-
ical properties of hemp fiber/polyamide composite improved
because of treatment with silane as coupling agent [14]. Fathi
et al. used oxidation using tetramethylpiperidine oxide to improve
the efficiency of silane as a coupling agent for grafting on flax
fibers. Following treatment, the water absorption of flax fibers
decreased, and the compatibility between flax and the epoxy resin
improved [15]. Balan et al. treated coconut shell powder with two
kinds of silane coupling agents to form coconut shell powder/nat-
ural rubber composites. The results revealed that
glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane-treated samples had higher
tensile strength and better interfacial adhesion with the matrix
than samples treated by triethoxyvinylsilane [16]. All these studies
focused on the interface between bio-fibers and the matrix. The
treated fibers were surrounded by the matrix. However, few stud-
ies have attended to improving the bond line between wood
veneer of large size and WPC.
In this research, we use trimethoxy vinyl silane (A171) and r-
aminopropyl triethoxy silane (KH550) to treat the surface of a
veneer of poplar wood. It is preferable to form chemical bonding
between the wood veneer and the WPC by heating and pressing.
The contact angle and chemical characteristics of poplar veneers
were analyzed to identify the effect of the modification. The bond-
ing strength and water resistance were measured to confirm the
effectiveness of bonding. The morphology of the interface between
wood veneer and WPC were observed using a scanning electron
microscope (SEM).
2. Material and methods
2.1. Materials
Rotary-cut poplar (Populus tomentosa) veneers (thickness of 1.5 ± 0.1 mm) were
purchased from Jinan Yuanfang Wood Trading Company, Jinan, China. Some had
been grinded by a grinder in the laboratory into wood fibers (WF) (40–80 mesh)
to prepare WF/HDPE. High-density polyethylene (HDPE, 5000S, density 0.949–
0.953 g/L, MFR 0.8–1.1 g/10 min) was purchased from Petrochina Daqing Petro-
chemical Company. Trimethoxy vinyl silane coupling agent (A171), CH2@CH Si
(OCH3)3, was purchased from Nan Jing Upchemical Limited, and the r-
aminopropyl triethoxy silane coupling agent (KH550), NH2(CH2)3Si(OCH2CH3)3,
was purchased from Shanghai Yaohua Chemical Limited. Dicumyl peroxide (DCP)
used as initiator was purchased from Shenyang Chemical Reagent Works. Acetone,
absolute ethyl alcohol, and glacial acetic acid were purchased from Tianjin Kemiou
Chemical Reagent company, and were analytically pure. Maleated polyethylene
(MAPE, grafting percentage 0.9%) was obtained from Shanghai Sunny New Technol-
ogy Development Co. Polyethylene (PE) wax was obtained from Shandong QiLu
Petrochemical Co.
2.2. Preparation of WF/HDPE composites
The wood fibers were dried at 103 °C until the moisture content decreased to
3.0%. The HDPE, WF, PE wax, and MAPE were then blended in by different mass frac-
tions according to Table 1 in a high-speed mixer (SHR-10A, Zhangjiagang Tonghe
Plastic Machinery Co.). The mixture was compounded with a co-rotating twin-
screw extruder (JSH30, Nanjing Rubber & Plastic Machinery Co, Nanjing, China)
and by cutting into small granules. These particles were fed into a single-screw
extruder (SJ45, Nanjing Rubber and Plastics Machinery Factory, China) and pre-
pared into WF/HDPE composite lumber with a thickness of 4 mm and a width of
100 mm.
2.3. Surface treatment of wood veneer
Saline was dissolved into a solution composed of ethanol and de-ionized water,
the mass fraction percent of saline was 20%, the ethanol was 72% and the de-ionized
water was 8% of total mass. Glacial acetic acid was added to the A171 solution for
regulating the pH value to 3–4. The concentration of the silane solution was
adjusted to 4% and hydrolyzed for 1 h. The silane solution was then coated onto
the surface of the veneer at 5% of the weight of the wood fibers and parched at
120 °C for 2 h in a drying oven (DHG-9625A, Shanghai Yiheng Scientific Instrument
Company).
2.4. Surface treatment of WF/HDPE composite
DCP was dissolved in acetone liquid to form a solution with a concentration of
0.13%. The DCP solution was coated onto the surface of the WF/HDPE composite,
which was then dried at 23 C for hours to completely volatilize the acetone.
2.5. Preparation of veneered WF/HDPE composite panel
The treated poplar wood veneers were laid on and below the surface of the
WF/HDPE substrate coated with DCP without any adhesive between them. A mat
with a three-layers sandwich structure (shown in Fig. 1) was hot-pressed in a
thermo-compressor (SL-60 Harbin Special Plastic Production Co.) at 175 °C and
2.5 MPa for 5 min. The thickness of veneered composite panel was controlled by
two steel bars of 6 mm thickness between the hot press boards. After hot pressing,
the veneered WF/HDPE board was cold compressed to room temperature. The con-
trol group of untreated wood veneer and WF/HDPE board was prepared with the
same process conditions.
The veneered WF/HDPE boards were kept at room temperature of 20 °C and a
relative humidity of 65% for 72 h before they were tested.
2.6. Measuring contact angle
To detect the hydrophobicity of the veneer surface, the static contact angle of
the surface of the wood veneer before and after treatment was measured with an
OCA 20 Video-based Optical Contact Angle Measurement System (Data Physics
Company, Germany). The test method and calculation of contact angle was followed
by ASTM D5946-2009 Standard Test Method for Corona-Treated Polymer Films
Using Water Contact Angle Measurements. The liquid used for the sessile drop test
was distilled water. The contact angle was recorded after 30 s when droplets fell on
the sample surface. For each measurement, ten drops of each liquid were used to
ensure reproducibility at room temperature (23 °C) at a relative humidity of 65%.
2.7. Attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy
The chemical characteristics of the treated and untreated poplar veneers were
analyzed by ATR-FTIR (Nicolette 6700, Nicolette Company, America). Scans were
recorded from 4000 cm 1 to 400 cm 1 at a resolution of 4 cm 1. Two spectra were
recorded for each sample.
Table 1
Mass fraction ratio of materials of WF/HDPE composites (part by weight).
Composite Wood flour HDPE PE wax MAPE
WF60-HDPE40 60 40 2 2
WF70-HDPE30 70 30 1.5 1.5
WF80-HDPE20 80 20 1 1
 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699
Fig. 1. Preparation of veneered WF/HDPE composite panel.
2.8. Surface bonding strength test
The surface bonding strength between the veneers and the WF/HDPE boards
was calculated using a failure strength test involving a vertical force on the veneer
surface as shown in the cross-sectional view of Fig. 2. The test method and result
calculation was followed by Chinese national standard GB/T 17,651 (2013) Test
Methods of Evaluating the Properties of Wood-Based Panels and Surface Decorated
Wood-Based Panels. The dimensions of the test surface were
50 mm  50 mm  6 mm with a middle circle area of 1,000 mm2 as shown in the
overhead view of Fig. 2. There were six specimens in each group and the loading
rate was 2 mm/s. The test was implemented by a mechanical testing machine
(RGT-20A, Reger instrument company, Shenzhen, China).
2.9. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
The bonding intersection between the WF/HDPE composite panel and the
poplar veneer was observed under an SEM (JSM7500F, JEOL Company, Japan). Sam-
ple of the cross-section were first coated with gold and then examined at an accel-
erating voltage of 10 kV.
2.10. Water resistance test
A dip-stripping test was conducted to evaluate the water resistance of the adhe-
sion between the poplar veneer and the WF/HDPE substrate composite board. Spec-
imens (veneered WF/HDPE composites) were immersed in water at 63 °C for 3 h
and then dried at 63 °C in an oven for 3 h. The delaminated length at four edges
of the dried samples was measured. The dimensions of the veneered WF/HDPE
Fig. 2. Schematic of relationship between specimen and testing machine.
693
board specimen were 75 mm  75 mm  6 mm. Six samples were tested in each
series.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Surface contact angle of poplar veneer
After treatment with the silane coupling agent, the surface of
the wood veneer was covered by a layer of silane, a nonpolar
hydrophobic surface. Thus, the contact angle could be used to eval-
uate the wettability of the surface of the veneer to estimate the
modification induced in it. Table 2 shows the contact angle of dis-
tilled water on the surface before and after treatment with the
silane coupling agent.
Treatment with these two kinds of silane coupling agent signif-
icantly changed the contact angle of the wood veneer, which
increased from 46° before treatment to greater than 120° after
treatment. Fig. 3 shows the contact angle between distilled water
and the poplar veneer. After 30 s, the water contact angle of the
untreated sample decreased and the contact significantly
increased. By contrast, the contact angles of the wood veneer trea-
ted by the silane coupling agent were nearly unchanged. This indi-
cates that after treatment by the silane coupling agents A171 and
KH550, the hydrophilic group-hydroxyl ‘‘AOH” on the wood
694 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699
Table 2
Contact angles of veneer before and after silane treatment.
Coupling Untreated A171
Distilled water/° 46 127
surface decreased in content due to its reaction with SiAOH to
form SiAOAC (REACTION 1). On the contrary, the reaction of ethe-
nyl CH@CH2 (hydrophobic group) with the silane coupling agent
significantly enhanced the hydrophobicity of the poplar wood
veneer surface. The contact angle of the samples treated with
KH550 was smaller than that of samples treated with A171
because of the aminopropyl contained in the former, which
induces some polarity. The A171 improved the compatibility of
the veneer with the WF/HDPE surface.
3.2. Analysis of chemical characteristics of surface
The infrared spectrograms of the surface of the poplar wood
veneer before and after silane treatment are shown in Fig. 4. Com-
pared with the untreated veneer, veneer coated with the silane
coupling agent (KH550, A171) shows weakened peaks at
3331.89 cm 1. This can be attributed to a significant reduction in
AOH. A new characteristic peak appeared at 1100 cm 1 because
of the formation of silanol from the hydrolyzation of silane reacting
with the hydroxyl of the wood veneer to generate a covalent bond
SiAOAC (reaction 1 and reaction 2) [17]. The characteristic peak at
1552.66 cm 1 can be attributed to the ANH bending the vibration
peaks. Its enhancement means that the ‘‘NH2ACH2ACH2A” of
KH550 was imported to the surface of the poplar wood veneer [18].
After silane treatment, there appeared a new absorption peak at
proximately 757 cm 1 in the veneer coated with either A171 or
KH550. This characteristic peak was due to the ‘‘SiAOASi” formed
by the self-condensation of silanol as shown in Fig. 5 reaction 3.
The condensation of silanol reduced the amount of Si-OH that
could react with hydroxides radical on the poplar surface (Fig. 5
reaction 2). Based on the strength of this peak, treatment with
the silane agent KH550 formed a smaller amount of SiAOASi than
with A171. This means that KH550 consumed more ASiAOHA
with the AOH of the wood surface than A171, generating more
Si-O-C rather than SiAOASi. The cross-linking of silanol formed a
superficial coating with a low polar radical (CH2@CHA,
NH2ACH2ACH2A), which led to an increase in the contact angle
and rendered it greater than 120° on the treated poplar wood
surface.
3.3. Surface bond strength
Fig. 6 shows the bonding strength of the veneered WF/HDPE,
and the reverse vertical force acting on the interface between the
Fig. 3. Contact angle between distilled water and poplar veneer: a. untreated; b. treated with A171; c. treated with KH550.
KH550
124
Fig. 4. Surface chemical characteristics of wood veneer before and after silane
treatment.
wood veneer and the base material of the WF/HDPE. This test indi-
cates the strength of bonding between the silane-treated wood
surface and the WF/HDPE surface after treatment with dicumyl
peroxide. The bonding strength of the veneer treated with the
silane coupling agents (A171 and KH550) was higher than that of
the untreated group. The bonding strength of samples treated by
silane coupling agents A171 were raised 51% (60 part wood fiber
content), 61% (70 part wood fiber content) and 268% (80 part wood
fiber content). KH550 treated samples bonding strength were
enhanced 38% (60 part wood fiber content), 26% (70 part wood
fiber content) and 237% (80 part wood fiber content). The higher
content of fibers is associated with the lowest bonding strength.
However, the improvement in bond strength is terms of percent-
age is the highest for the 80 part fiber proportion. This is because
of the surface of WF/HDPE composite with 60 part wood fiber
assemble more HDPE, those HDPE would melt during hot press
and penetrate into the wood conduit of wood veneer. After cooling,
the HDPE left wood conduit would solidification and formed
anchoring structure. Therefore, the control group have higher
bonding strength than other groups. On the other hand, the control
group with 80 part wood fiber with few HDPE on composite sur-
face, hence the bonding strength is very low. Although the bonding
strength of all treated groups were significant enhanced, the
increase amplitude of group with 80 part wood fiber is much
greater than that of other samples. On the interface of the
untreated veneer, a few wood fragments stuck to the surface of
the WF/HDPE substrate (Fig. 9a) owing to the weak bonding
strength between veneer and the WF/HDPE surface. For samples
treated with the silane coupling agents A171 and KH550, the bond-
ing strength varied from 0.8 MPa to 1.35 MPa, and fracture
 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699
Fig. 5. The reaction mechanism of silane reaction 1 mechanism of hydrolysis; reaction 2 bonding with wood; reaction 3 self-condensation. R’ represents the radical
‘‘CH2@CHA” of A171 and the radical ‘‘NH2(CH2)3A” of KH550 [19,20].
Fig. 6. Surface bonding strength of veneered WF/HDPE composite panels.
occurred in the layer of the wood veneer as shown on Fig. 9 b, c.
This is because both A171 and KH550 imported low polar radicals
(CH2@CHA, NH2ACH2ACH2ACH2A) onto the surface of the wood
695
veneer, and these molecular chains twined with HDPE molecules
on the surface of the WF/HDPE composite. On the contrary, the
DCP reacted with HDPE on the WF/HDPE surface and generated
new macromolecular free radicals (Fig. 7 reaction 4) [21,22] that
could polymerize with the radicals imported by the silane coupling
agent on the surface of poplar wood. These two combinations led
to the high bonding strength between WF/HDPE and poplar wood
veneer.
Samples treated with A171 had higher surface bonding
strength than those treated with KH550 as shown in Fig. 6
because the residual hydrolyzation intermediate of the KH550
contained active H + ions that reacted with the HDPE macro-
molecular radicals triggered by DCP. The HDPE macromolecular
radicals then used the hydrogen atom and converted back into
the hydrocarbon structure for a loss of reactivity (Fig. 8 reaction
5). Therefore, the bonding strength of samples treated with
KH550 was lower than those treated with A171. However, the
study of t-test result between samples (60 part wood fiber) trea-
ted by A171 and KH550 shown the P-value = 0.49 means there
was no significant difference of bonding strength. Significant dif-
ference was existed between A171 and KH550 treated samples
with higher wood fiber content which P-value is 0.011 (70 part
wood fiber) and 0.021 (80 part wood fiber). This is because of
the amount of HDPE on WF/HDPE with 60 part wood fiber is
higher than others, the sufficient HDPE provide enough free
696 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699

Fig. 7. . DCP initiator reaction with HDPE on the surface of WF/HDPE composite.

Fig. 8. The reactivity loss mechanism of free radical on HDPE molecular chains.

Fig. 9. Morphology of fracture of interface between WF/HDPE and poplar wood veneer. (a) Untreated. (b) Treated with A171. (c) Treated with KH550.

radical which would counteract part of effect from loss of reactiv-
ity of the free radical (Fig. 8 reaction 5).
With increasing wood fiber content, the bonding strength of the
three groups decreased because of the high content of wood fiber
along with low HDPE content, which caused a smaller amount of
HDPE to form on the surface of WF/HDPE. The DCP thus freed fewer
radicals of HDPE. Thus, there have less reaction point on the
WF/HDPE surface to form effective covalent bond and the interface
bonding strength between veneer and WF/HDPE is lower.
Fig. 11 shows the cross-section of the interface between the
WF/HDPE substrate and the wood veneer. The interface of the com-
posite sample treated with coupling agent A171 bonded tightly
without any obvious crack as in Fig. 11a. This indicates that DCP
could have initiated the HDPE molecular chain and generated a
sufficient number of free radicals to react with the samples with
silane A171 grafted on the veneer (Fig. 10 reaction 6 and reaction
7). However, the sample treated with KH550 had a small crevice
as shown in the red circle in Fig. 11b. This is because of the amido-
gen of KH550 would react with macromolecular radicals of HDPE
(Fig. 8 reaction 5), mean while there would remain less reactive
macromolecular radical bond with treated wood veneer. The bond-
ing strength of samples of the untreated composite was too weak
for them to adhere, and they could not withstand the process of
preparation. Thus, we could not obtain their SEM images.
3.4. Water resistance
The results of the soaking test are listed in Table 3 for an assess-
ment of the water resistance of the coated materials in a humid
environment. For untreated groups, the length of delamination
 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699 697

Fig. 10. The bonding mechanism between WF/PP composite and wood veneer. Reaction 6 DCP and silane graft on wood; reaction 7 grafted wood and HDPE.

Fig. 11. Bonding line of silane-treated veneer and WF/HDPE composite (a) treated with A171, (b) treated with KH550.
698 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699
Table 3
Length of delamination between veneer and WF/HDPE composites after water
soaking-drying treatment.
WPC Delamination length (mm)
Untreated A171 KH550
WF60-HDPE40 68 0 0
WF70-HDPE30 75 0 0
WF80-HDPE20 75 18 75
along the edges of the veneer (68 mm, 75 mm, 75 mm) was consid-
erably longer than that of samples treated with A171 and KH550.
This delamination mostly occurred during soaking with heated
water, which indicates that the weak bond between the polar
veneer and the nonpolar HDPE could not withstand boiling for a
long time because they could form neither a chemical bond nor
an effective anchor structure. A large amount of hot water perme-
ated the cell wall of the poplar wood through the interface of the
WF/HDPE base material and the wood veneer. The water caused
the veneer to dilate and deform, and the weak bonding in the pre-
ceding state was counteracted by the internal stress of the plate.
When the wood fiber content of the WF/HDPE composite
increased to 80 part, delamination also appeared in samples trea-
ted with A171 and KH550 (18 mm and 75 mm, respectively). This
is because the excessive wood content resulted in decreased HDPE
on the surface of the WF/HDPE. The amount of HDPE was insuffi-
cient to form a compound with the wood veneer. The peeling
length of the samples treated with A171 was much shorter than
that of samples treated with KH550. The hydrolysis group of
A171 was methoxy which with smaller bulk and higher reaction
activity than the hydrolysis group of KH550, the oxyethyl group.
Thus, A171 reacted with poplar wood more completely than
KH550, and therefore samples treated with A171 had better water
resistance.
4. Conclusion
In this study, a chemical bond was formed between the WPC
surface and poplar wood by the ‘‘molecule bridge” provided by
silane as coupling agent. After treatment with trimethoxy vinyl
silane (A171) and r-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (KH550) as cou-
pling agents, the surface contact angle of poplar wood increased
remarkably, and a graph analyzed by using ATR-FTIR indicated that
the molecule chain belonged to A171 and KH550 grafted onto the
surface of the wood.
The bonding strength between WF/HDPE and wood veneer
decreased with increasing wood fiber content in WF/HDPE. When
the wood fiber content increased to 80 part, the HDPE on the sur-
face of the WPC was much smaller in volume than in samples with
low wood fiber content, and thus its bonding strength was the low-
est. Because the chemical characteristics of the terminal group
(NH2A) of KH550, HDPE macromolecular radicals used the hydro-
gen atom and converted back into hydrocarbons, thus losing reac-
tivity (Fig. 8 reaction 5). This is the why the bonding strength of
samples treated by KH550 was lower than those treated by
A171. SEM images indicate that under the combined action of
the silane coupling agent A171 and DCP, the interface of the wood
poplar veneer and the WF/HDPE was firm and without cracks. But
there were tiny gaps in the interface of samples treated with
KH550. Both kinds of silane coupling agents had good water resis-
tance, except for samples with 80 part wood fibers in the base
material.
In conclusion, the silane coupling agent A171 is more suitable
for bonding wood poplar veneer and WPC base material than
KH550. The relatively low wood fiber content of WPC can supply
sufficient HDPE to react with the coupling agent sequentially and
yield higher surface bonding strength. Even without using a ther-
moset adhesive, it is thus possible to coat WPC with a wood veneer.
Declaration of Competing Interest
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships
with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influ-
ence our work. There is no professional or other personal interest
of any nature or kind in any product, service and company that
could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the
review of the manuscript entitled ‘‘Modifying Wood Veneer with
Silane Coupling Agent for Decorating Wood Fiber/High-density
Polyethylene Composite”.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (31670573), Key project of Heilongjiang Province
Natural Science Foundation (ZD2016002), and Special Project of
Sustainable Development for Central University Innovation Team
of the Ministry Education (2572017ET05). We thank International
Science Editing (http://www.Internationalscienceediting.com) for
editing this manuscript.
References
[1] A.K. Bledzki, J. Gassan, S. Theis, Wood-filled thermoplastic composites, Mech.
Compos. Mater. 34 (6) (1998) 563–568, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02254666.
[2] G. Cantero, A. Arbelaiz, R. Llano-Ponte, I. Mondragon, Effects of fibre treatment
on wettability and mechanical behaviour of flax/polypropylene composites,
Compos. Sci. Technol. 63 (9) (2003) 1247–1254, https://doi.org/10.1016/
S0266-3538(03)00094-0.
[3] S.T. Cholake, R. Rajarao, P. Henderson, R.R. Rajagopal, V. Sahajwalla, Composite
panels obtained from automotive waste plastics and agricultural macadamia
shell waste, J. Cleaner Prod. 151 (Complete) (2017) 163–171, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.074.
[4] J.F. Horta, F.J. Simões, A. Mateus, Study of wood-plastic composites with reused
high density polyethylene and wood sawdust q, Proc. Manuf. 12 (2017) 221–
229.
[5] P. Wambua, J. Ivens, I. Verpoest, Natural fibres: can they replace glass in fibre
reinforced plastics?, Compos Sci. Technol. 63 (9) (2003) 1259–1264, https://
doi.org/10.1016/S0266-3538(03)00096-4.
[6] R.G. Raj, B.V. Kokta, F. Dembele, B. Sanschagrain, Compounding of cellulose
fibers with polypropylene: effect of fiber treatment on dispersion in the
polymer matirx, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 38 (11) (2010) 1987–1996, https://doi.org/
10.1002/app.1989.070381103.
[7] M. Kazayawoko, J.J. Balatinecz, L.M. Matuana, Surface modification and
adhesion mechanisms in woodfiber-polypropylene composites, J. Mater. Sci.
34 (24) (1999) 6189–6199, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004790409158.
[8] L.M. Guo, W.H. Wang, Q.W. Wang, N. Yan, Decorating wood flour/HDPE
composites with wood veneers, Polym. Compos. (2016), https://doi.org/
10.1002/pc.24043.
[9] B. Hünnekens, F. Peters, G. Avramidis, A. Krause, H. Militz, W. Viöl, Plasma
treatment of wood-polymer composites: a comparison of three different
discharge types and their effect on surface properties, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 133
(18) (2016) n/a-n/a.
[10] M.P.G. Laborie, B. Gupta, Oxyfluorination of wood-fiber reinforced
thermoplastic composites to improve adhesion, J. Adhes. 84 (10) (2008)
830–846.
[11] M. Bengtsson, K. Oksman, Silane crosslinked wood plastic composites:
processing and properties, Compos. Sci. Technol. 66 (13) (2006) 2177–2186,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2005.12.009.
[12] Y. Xie, C.A.S. Hill, Z. Xiao, H. Militz, C. Mai, Silane coupling agents used for
natural fiber/polymer composites: a review, Compos. A 41 (7) (2010) 806–819,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2010.03.005.
[13] F. Chen, G. Han, Q. Li, X. Gao, W. Cheng, High-temperature hot air/silane
coupling modification of wood fiber and its effect on properties of wood fiber/
HDPE composites, Materials 10 (3) (2017) 286, https://doi.org/
10.3390/ma10030286.
[14] Y. Nishitani, T. Kajiyama, T. Yamanaka, Effect of silane coupling agent on
tribological properties of hemp fiber-reinforced plant-derived polyamide 1010
biomass composites, Materials 10 (9) (2017) 1040, https://doi.org/
10.3390/ma10091040.
[15] B. Fathi, M.J. Harirforoush, M. Foruzanmehr, S. Elkoun, M. Robert, Effect of
TEMPO oxidation of flax fibers on the grafting efficiency of silane coupling
agents, J. Mater. Sci. 52 (17) (2017) 10624–10636, https://doi.org/10.1007/
s10853-017-1224-1.
 Y. Liu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 224 (2019) 691–699 699

[16] A.K. Balan, S.M. Parambil, S. Vakyath, J.T. Velayudhan, S. Naduparambath, Surf. Sci. 288 (1) (2014) 682–689, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
P. Etathil, Coconut shell powder reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane/natural apsusc.2013.10.098.
rubber blend-composites: effect of silane coupling agents on the mechanical [20] N. Nishiyama, K. Horie, T. Asakura, Hydrolysis and condensation mechanisms
and thermal properties of the composites, J. Mater. Sci. 52 (11) (2017) 6712– of a silane coupling agent studied by 13C and 29Si NMR, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 34
6725, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0907-y. (4) (2010) 1619–1630, https://doi.org/10.1002/app.1987.070340421.
[17] A. Valadezgonzalez, M. Cervantesuc, J. Olayo, J.P. Herrerafranco, Chemical [21] D. Braun, S. Richter, G.P. Hellmann, M.J. Rätzsch, Peroxy-initiated chain
modification of henequén fibers WITH an organosilane coupling agent, degradation, crosslinking, and grafting in PP-PE blends, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 68
Compos. B Eng. 30 (3) (1999) 321–331, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-8368 (12) (2015) 2019–2028. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4628(19980620)
(98)00055-9. 68:12<2019::AID-APP16>3.0.CO;2-W..
[18] W. Wu, J. Wang, Effect of KH550 on the preparation and compatibility of [22] J. Gu, H. Xu, C. Wu, The effect of PP and peroxide on the properties and
carbon fibers reinforced silicone rubber composites, Silicon 10 (5) (2018) morphology of HDPE and HDPE/PP blends, Adv. Polym. Tech. 32 (1) (2013) 72,
1903–1910, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-017-9700-4. https://doi.org/10.1002/adv.21326.
[19] F. Lu, C. Liang, W.J. Guo, Y. Chen, W. Zheng, Influence of silane surface
modification of veneer on interfacial adhesion of wood-plastic plywood, Appl.