Thermal decomposition properties of recycled tire rubber filled wood/high density polyethylene composites
Dynamic thermo-gravimetric analysis under nitrogen was applied to investigate the thermal decomposition process of wood/HDPE composites (WPC) modified with different amount of ground tire rubber (GTR). Degradation models, including the Friedman and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (F-W-O) were used to determine the apparent activation energy (Ea) of various materials. Composites with various GTR contents exhibited a similar two-stage degradation process. Initial decomposition temperature (T0) of the composites gradually decreased from 250.1°C to 238.2°C with the increasing GTR concentration, while the peak temperature (Tp) values remained about the same. Kinetic analysis demonstrated an average activation energy decreasing with the incorporation of 5 % GTR within the composites through both methods, but no big difference was observed with further increasing the GTR content from 5 % to 15 %. The established thermal decomposition kinetic parameters allow developing the reutilization of waste tire rubber in composite materials with appropriate loading level.