News

Polyethylenepe-based wood plastic composites (PE-based WPC) is a new type of composite material at home and abroad in recent years, refers to the use of polyethylene and wood flour, rice husk, bamboo powder, and other plant fibers mixed into a new wood material, mixing and granulation of composite particles prepared by the production of panels or profiles of the raw material, mainly used in building materials, furniture, logistics, and packaging industries, with the advantages of natural wood and plastic.

Wood-plastic composites are based on polyethylene and wood fibers, with the advantages of natural wood and plastic. PE-based WPC contains plastic and thus has a good modulus of elasticity. In addition, due to the fiber content and the thorough mixing with plastic, the physical and mechanical properties such as compression and bending resistance are comparable to those of hardwood, its durability is significantly better than ordinary wood materials, with high surface hardness, generally 2-5 times that of wood.

It is worth noting that PE-based WPC needs to be treated with all the raw and auxiliary materials before mixing and granulation, otherwise, all the performances of the prepared products such as profiles or plates will be relatively poor and will not be able to meet the use.

Key Problems Encountered in PE-based Wood Plastic Composites Processing:

• Wood flour structure is fluffy, not easy to disperse evenly, difficult to extrude, and easy to agglomerate, especially when the wood flour contains more moisture will often appear “bridging” and “holding rod” phenomenon.
• Feeding instability will lead to extrusion fluctuation phenomenon, resulting in extrusion quality and yield reduction. Feeding interruption, the material in the barrel prolongs the residence time, resulting in material scorching and discoloration, affecting the inner quality and appearance of the products.

The raw and auxiliary materials of PE wood-plastic pellets need appropriate additives to modify the surface of the polymer and wood powder to improve the interfacial affinity between wood powder and resin. A high filler amount of wood flour in the molten thermoplastic dispersion effect is poor, making the melt fluidity poor, extrusion molding processing difficulties can be added to improve the fluidity of wood-plastic lubricants to facilitate extrusion molding, at the same time, the plastic matrix also needs to add a variety of additives to improve its processing performance and its products use performance.

Effective Lubrication Dispersion Solutions for PE-based WPC with SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322:

To enhance the efficiency of PE wood molding pellet processing, SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322, a specially developed lubricant solution for wood composite manufacturing, comes into play. This additive addresses various challenges and contributes to a streamlined production process:

SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322 is a lubricant solution for WPC specially developed for wood composites manufacturing PE and PP WPC (wood plastic materials). The core component of this product is modified polysiloxane, containing polar active groups, excellent compatibility with resin and wood powder, in the process of processing and production can improve the dispersion of wood powder, and does not affect the compatibility effect of compatibilizers in the system, can effectively improve the mechanical properties of the product. This WPC additive is cost-effective, excellent lubrication effect, can improve the matrix resin processing properties, and also can make the product smoother. Better than WPC wax or WPC stearate additives.

The addition of SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322 can play multiple roles in the production of PE-based WPC , including:

Improved processability: SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322 reduces the viscosity of the material during the production process, improves melt flow, and makes the wood powder more evenly dispersed, thus improving the efficiency and quality of the extrusion or injection molding process.

Reduced energy consumption: As the addition of SILIKE WPC additive SILIMER 5322 reduces the viscosity of the material, less energy is consumed during the extrusion or injection molding process, thus reducing production costs.

Improvement of surface quality: the right amount of SILIKE WPC lubricant SILIMER 5322 can reduce the surface roughness of the material, improve the surface finish and appearance of the product, and not affect the mechanical properties of the product.

Reduce wear and tear: SILIKE Wood plastic lubricant SILIMER 5322 can form a lubricant film on the surface of the product, reduce the friction and wear of the product in the process of use, and prolong the service life of the product.

In general， the addition of wood-plastic lubricants SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322 not only improves processing performance but also brings cost-effective lubrication to PE wood-plastic composites. The result is a smoother production process with enhanced appearance quality and improved product performance.

Discover the enhanced efficiency and advantages of WPC with SILIKE Additive Masterbatch SILIMER 5322 (Lubricant Processing Aids For WPC ).

Explore further at www.siliketech.com.