Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Enhancement of wood filled polymer by microwave induced heat treatment

M.P.M. Subasinghe a, *, Kok Heng Soon a, Rudy Vui Keong Ko a, Elammaran Jayamani a,
Hui Leng Choo b
a
Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Q5B, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
b
School of Engineering, Faculty of Innovation and Technology, Taylor’s University, No. 1 Jalan Taylor’s, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor DE, Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A domestic microwave oven was modified using a thermocouple to measure temperature while heating to
HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) experiment the effect of microwave irradiation on Meranti wood. The main aspect of this research paper would
WPC (Wood Polymer Composite) be to evaluate the performance of heating on how it affects the wood by microwave irradiation. Wood is the
Microwave heating
testing specimen of this control system. The purpose of this study was to see if the microwave drying method had
Mechanical properties
an effect on young’s moduli, tensile strength, and permeability. The results of the experimental tests demonstrate
that Young’s moduli increased as wood powder volume increased. The samples with 10 wt% of microwave-
treated wood powder had the highest elasticity modulus, tensile strength and permeability of 4043 MPa,
15.41 MPa and 24.43% respectively. It was followed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis
and followed by SEM (Scanning electron microscope analysis). Microwave treated wood at high intensities
increased the elastic modulus and tensile strength by deeply impregnating the wood into the composite, ac­
cording to morphological analysis performed using SEM.

1. Introduction properties vary depending on the composition of the various constitu­

Cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and extractives are components of
wood in minor quantities. Throughout the beginning of time, man has
tried to dry wood. Initially, it’s likely that just the sun and air helped
wood to dry; however, during the past century, artificial drying has
made steady development [1]. Although not very common, drying wood
with microwave radiation has the advantage of drying wood more
quickly without sacrificing quality, making it a useful addition to con­
ventional air-circulation drying. Every day, new techniques for effec­
tively declaring wood for usage are discovered [3]. Now, it’s crucial to
refine the wood in better methods for better utilization. Wood is sensi­
tive to the harm caused by water or moisture because it affects the
hemicellulose component of the wood. Using this method, boards with a
gradient of abnormally high moisture content can also be treated [3].
Despite having an extremely low Young’s modulus, which contrib­
utes to their low strength, plastics have a wide variety of uses. The main
advantages of plastic materials are their low weight and compatibility
for humid settings. Yet, a reasonably cheap alternative for strengthening
is to use wood powder. It is widely used, as shown by the cited articles. A
composite made from these two materials can be used in a wide variety
of technical applications. Dismally, its physical and mechanical
ents, just like they do with every composite material.
The final material is strengthened to some extent by the re­
inforcements brought on by the various contents of these molecules. The
primary goal of this paper is to investigate the mechanical characteris­
tics of WPC reinforced with microwave irradiation and containing
various amounts of wood powder. Furthermore, given the improvement
in mechanical and physical properties, this research may have an impact
on the design of WPC products. Due to the benefits of natural fibre
composites, which include affordability, less weight, decreased equip­
ment abrasion, and renewability, researchers and industry are devoting
more attention to natural fiber-reinforced plastics. High-Density Poly­
ethylene (HDPE) composites reinforced with kenaf and MWCNT were
microwave processed and the mechanical performance of the HDPE/
kenaf and HDPE/MWCNT composites that had undergone microwave
processing was evaluated utilizing a variety of methods.
The four-layered, microwave-processed HDPE/kenaf composite had
a tensile modulus that was 35.2% greater than that of the HDPE/
MWCNT composite, according to the results of the uniaxial tensile test
[5]. Microwave-treated fibers and recycled polypropylene (RPP) were
used to create hybrid composites using oil palm empty fruit bunch and
glass fibre. Microwave-treated fibre-based composites were discovered

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: spasan4@gmail.com (M.P.M. Subasinghe).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.08.258
Received 20 June 2023; Received in revised form 15 August 2023; Accepted 21 August 2023
2214-7853/Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Advances in Materials, Mechanics, Mechatronics and
Manufacturing. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: M.P.M. Subasinghe et al., Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.08.258
M.P.M. Subasinghe et al.
to have better mechanical and thermal properties than untreated ones
[6]. Similarly in this research paper experimentation will be done to find
out if microwave treated wood combined with HDPE will have a higher
tensile strength and modulus compared to untreated wood. For these
reasons, it is used in the construction industry as well as the furniture,
automotive, and packaging sectors. There have been reports of natural
fibres such flax, sugar palm, henequen, hemp, sisal, jute, and kapok as
well as pineapple leaf, ramie, kenaf, and oil palm being used in polymer
composites [7].
2. Methodology
2.1. Materials
The materials used in this study are Meranti wood of size 0.3–0.6 mm
treated with sodium hydroxide for 24 h and Lotte high-density poly­
ethylene (HDPE). The microwave used was a Sharp R219A Microwave
Oven with a microwave output of 700 W.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Microwave treatment procedure
Meranti type wood will be chosen and microwave treated for further
processing. The microwave will also be modified using a Max - 6675
breakout module and a K-type thermocouple connected through an
Arduino Uno to measure the temperature while heating [2]. This is to
ensure heating takes place successfully (see Figs. 1–2 and Tables 1–3).
2.2.2. Preparation of wood-plastic composite
The wood is mixed in different concentrations along with HDPE and
run through the extruder machine to produce the composite.
Extruder equipment was used to compound wood and HDPE com­
posite specimens. 30 rpm and 130–150-170 degrees Celsius were chosen
as the ideal rotating speed and temperature, respectively. The dried
wood will be treated at high and low power at fixed times before being
fed into the extruder with HDPE(high density polyethylene) to create the
composite. The material is extruded into sheet form. The extruder model
used was the Shanghai Kingz Machinery HM-1000. It was found that the
maximum percentage of wood that could be used from the extruder to
create a proper composite was 10%, any more concentration of wood
would cause the resulting composite to break.
Fig. 1. Sample specifications.
2
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
2.2.3. Permeability
The following formula will be used to calculate water absorption:
Original mass − Oven dry mass
Moisture Content = × 100%
Oven dry mass
Allowing the composite to soak in the water for a fixed amount of
time and then measuring the change in its weight tested the water
permeability.
2.2.4. Tensile testing
Tensile strength is a measurement of a material’s resistance to forces
that have a tendency to tear it apart [14]. It establishes how far a ma­
terial can stretch before failing. According to ASTM D-638, a universal
testing machine was used to measure the tensile properties. A 500 N load
cell was used for all tensile tests. Additionally, the crosshead speed was
5 mm per minute. Each specimen composition was mechanically tested a
minimum of three times, and the mean values were calculated and taken
into account. The specimens were prepared by using a die cutter to
procure them into dumbbell shapes. The dimensional area was
measured for each of the cut shapes.
2.2.5. Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
In order to look into potential alterations in chemical structure
brought on by the treatment combinations, a Nicolet iS10 FTIR Spec­
trometer was employed. Since the spectroscopy was carried out in the
open air without the benefit of a controlled environment, the relative
humidity was 45% and the temperature was 20 degrees celsius. The
samples are exposed to infrared radiation from the FTIR instrument that
ranges in wavelength from about 10,000 cm− 1 to 100 cm− 1, some of
which is absorbed and some of which passes through. The sample
molecules transform the absorbed radiation into rotational and/or
vibrational energy.
The absorption will be calculated from the transmittance values
using the following formula: A ¼ 2-log%T.
2.2.6. Scanning electron microscope analysis (SEM)
Micrographs were taken from SEM machine JEOL JCM-7000 and the
coating machine DII-29030SCTR Smart Coater. 1 min gold coating of 5
nm thickness was used. The magnification used was the range of x30 to
x500. These images were used for morphological analysis.
M.P.M. Subasinghe et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 2. WPC samples.

3.2. Tensile testing

Table 1
HDPE properties.
Tensile strength and Young’s moduli were calculated in accordance
Physical Properties Metric with the obtained force–displacement curves. Experimental tensile tests,
Base Resin Density 0.961 g/cc which are typically used to obtain stress–strain curves, are constrained
Base Resin Melt Index 7.0 g/10 min by the choking phenomenon. The average readings of both the young’s
modulus and tensile strength were then taken and graphs were plotted to
examine the behaviour of the material.
Table 2 Fig. 3 confirms that the wood that underwent microwave irradiation
Mechanical properties. showed a higher young’s moduli. The addition of microwave treated
Mechanical Properties Metric wood, which underwent high and low power treatment at 10% con­
centration showed the highest young’s modulus. This is at 4042.667
Hardness Shore, D 65
Tensile Strength at Break 16.7 MPa MPa and 3249.6667 MPa respectively. This shows that stiffness of mi­
crowave treated wood composite is greater [12]. Given that the amount
Note. From Data Sheet of Lotte Chemical Titan TITANZEX®
of wood fibre added raises the elastic modulus in all specimens and that
HM5000 High density polyethylene, Lotte Chemical Titan
lignocellulosic materials have a higher elasticity, the amount of wood
TITANZEX® HM5000 high density polyethylene. Available at:
added to polyethylene raises the composite material’s Young’s modulus
<https://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet_print.aspx?
matguid=df7fd8d5bb1644208a6f59a71f6bbacf>. value [17].
Examination of tensile strength in Fig. 4 shows that 10% concen­
tration of microwave treated wood gives the highest values of 15.41 MPa
Table 3 and 12.77 MPa respectively. As observed in the graph, the tensile
WPC samples. strength doubled in value when the amount of wood powder was
Intensity Sample Time(s) increased from 5% to 10% for microwave treated wood at high intensity.
Untreated wood showed negligible change in tensile strength for
Low Intensity High Wood (10%)(10 g) 180
High Intensity High Wood (10%)(10 g) 180 both 10% and 5% wood concentration respectively. Pure HDPE had a
Low Intensity Low Wood (5%)(5 g) 180 higher tensile strength in comparison to all samples except at the com­
High Intensity Low Wood (5%)(5 g) 180 posite with 10% wood treated high power. This could be due to the fact
No microwave High Wood (10%)(10 g) N/A that the wood particles treated at high microwave intensity come out in
No microwave Low Wood (5%)(5 g) N/A
finer form, which causes bonds between particles to be stronger [10]. It
No microwave 0% wood, all PE N/A
could also be due to air bubbles that are formed during extrusion in the
composite with 5% wood concentration and the samples with untreated
3. Results and discussions wood. There was however a phenomenon observed where the amount of
wood powder in the polyethylene usually causes the polymer to crack
3.1. Temperature vs. time and causes the strain to be reduced. The strain values should have been
significantly decreased with more wood concentration and leading to
Table 4 shows that heating takes place effectively causing the com­ lower tensile strength [11].
posite to heat up. Different composites took longer to heat compared to On the contrary, it can be seen that microwave treated wood does not
others. The thermocouple provided the temperature of the composite in behave this way and creates a stiffer composite than the original HDPE
real time while heating. [6]. In engineering structures which must withstand a heavy load
It was observed that microwaved treated wood heats up to a higher without deforming, the modulus increase indicates a decrease in the
temperature than the other samples. The 5% and 10% microwave composite material’s deformation under load.
treated wood at high intensity heats up to the highest temperature
recorded.

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M.P.M. Subasinghe et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 4
Temperature vs. time.
Low Intensity(Water High Intensity(Water Low Intensity (5% High Intensity (5% Low Intensity (10% High Intensity (10%
Only) Only) wood) wood) wood) wood)
Time Temperature (◦ C) Temperature (◦ C) Temperature (◦ C) Temperature (◦ C) Temperature (◦ C) Temperature (◦ C)
(s)

0 35 35 35 35 35 35
10 35.5 38.5 36.5 37.2 37.9 38.4
20 37.2 44.5 38.9 40.7 39.8 41.3
30 40.8 50.4 40.8 43.3 44.3 44.7
40 43.3 58.2 42.2 47.4 47.5 49.5
50 46.6 64.1 44.8 50.4 51.5 54.2
60 49.5 70.6 47.2 55.6 55.6 59.1
70 54.3 75.3 49.7 60.8 60.8 65.4
80 57.4 80.9 52 63.8 63.1 71.1
90 60.1 84.6 54.5 65.9 66.8 77.3
100 63.6 88.9 57.3 70.1 70.1 83.7
110 66.5 95 60.1 72.3 72.3 89.3
120 69 97.9 63 75.5 75.5 96.5
130 72.1 98.9 66.3 78.7 79.5 100.3
140 75.4 101.1 69.8 83.6 83.8 105.6
150 78.9 103.4 73.2 88.8 87.1 109.3
160 83.4 105.4 76.6 96.4 91.9 114.5
170 86.5 107.1 80.5 101.3 96.4 117.5
180 89.7 109.8 84.5 105.6 101.3 123.1

Fig. 3. Young’s modulus vs. specimen type.

3.3. Permeability analysis
The results for the permeability of these wood composites are shown
in Table 5. There is a general trend that can be observed from the per­
centage readings. The percentage increases as the amount of wood in
each sample increases. The lowest percentage difference is shown in the
sample of pure HDPE as this has no wood particles inside it therefore
absorption is the least. It can be observed that the HDPE is least
permeable. 10% wood concentration in low intensity and high intensity
shows the most permeability.
The microwave energy swiftly converts the water in the wood to
steam throughout the treatment, and the building steam pressure injures
the wood’s cell tissues to varied degrees [9]. Pit membranes, ray cells,
tyloses, and even major cell walls are damaged to open up new channels
for moisture migration [13]. This leads to improved permeability and
favourable circumstances for drying wood, enhancing wood’s func­
tionality, and creating new materials [9].
Microwave therapies dramatically enhance the uptake and retention
of the water, especially during the most powerful treatment. The various
levels of microwave alteration are determined by the processing pa­
rameters and microwave process circumstances [9]. These wood sam­
ples can be utilised to make new composites if the permeability is
enhanced. Increasing wood’s permeability has benefits for drying de­
fects, chemical impregnation and sound absorption capability.
3.4. FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy)
In order to determine whether the microwave treatments damaged
the wood composite’s molecular bonds, the FTIR analysis was carried
out. The transmittance peaks were the same size and location for all
samples, proving that there was no molecular bond damage [4]. The
wood was not completely destroyed at the molecular level by the mi­
crowave treatments due to insufficient temperatures [8].
The absorption had to be calculated using the formula given above

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M.P.M. Subasinghe et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 4. Tensile strength vs. specimen.

antisymmetric out of phase stretching.

Table 5
Water permeability.
3.5. Scanning electron microscope analysis (SEM)
Sample Before weight After weight Percentage
(grams) (grams) Difference (%)
Fig. 6 shows the SEM micrographs of the tensile fracture surfaces of
Pure HDPE 1.73 1.81 4.62
untreated WPC, microwave treated WPC and Pure HDPE. A ductile
Untreated (5% 1.61 1.75 8.70
wood)
fracture surface morphology of the Pure HDPE can be seen in Fig. 6a.
Untreated (10% 2.03 2.25 10.84 The larger values of young’s moduli are thought to be caused by the
wood) presence of plastic deformation in the form of matrix fibrillation on the
Low Intensity (5% 1.62 1.76 8.64 fracture surface.
wood)
The SEM micrograph of a PE composite filled with 10% treated wood
High Intensity (5% 1.71 1.93 12.87
wood) is shown in Fig. 6(b). It was evident that the distribution of the various
Low Intensity (10% 2.04 2.44 19.61 wood flour sizes and shapes within the PE matrix was asymmetrical.
wood) Additionally, there are broken fibre bundles, which indicates that the
High Intensity (10% 2.21 2.75 24.43 interfacial region’s adhesion is not very good [16]. There may be
wood)
hydrogen bonding among them, which would explain their high pro­
pensity to aggregate. As a result, it is reasonable to anticipate that these
using the transmittance value that was observed. As shown in Fig. 5 the fibre bundles will resist individual fibre dispersion as fibre loading in­
light blue line for 10% wood at high power (microwave intensity) again creases and will undoubtedly decrease the effectiveness of stress transfer
shows the highest absorption at the wavenumbers of 2925 cm− 1–2985 from the matrix to the fibres [13].
cm− 1, while the dark blue line which shows 5%wood at low power The presence of treated wood can improve how well the fibres in the
(microwave intensity) is at the next highest absorption at the same matrix are wetted, which will lead to stronger interfacial adhesion, as
wavenumbers. This shows that there is significant stretching of the C–H indicated by the SEM micrograph of the PE composite filled with 10%
bonds by microwave treatment. The stretch asymmetric vibrations of microwave-treated wood in Fig. 6(c). It was evident from the fracture
–CH2 (typically around 2935–2915 cm− 1) and –CH3 (2970–2950 surface that the tendency of the wood to be deeply entrenched inside the
cm− 1) and the stretch symmetric vibrations of –CH2– (2865–2845 PE matrix. These SEM micrographs show an increase in the adherence of
cm− 1) and –CH3 combine to form the two bands at 2900–2800 cm− 1 the wood fibres to the PE matrix, which is a key factor in the increased
(2880–2860 cm− 1) [4]. strength and modulus characteristics [17].
The asymmetric band typically exhibits a higher absorptivity.
Changes in structural and relative composition, specifically at the level 4. Conclusions
of cellulose crystallinity, are the cause of the apparent shift in frequency
for the maximum of the CH band, which affects the C–H and O–H In conclusion, the mechanical characteristics of WPCs reinforced
stretch frequencies. The typical lignocellulosic fibre is shown in the with microwave treated wood powder are studied. The inclusion of
spectrum as a peak typical of C–H bonds, which are both connected to microwave treated wood particles has a significant impact on the ma­
cellulose and hemicellulose. The aromatic ring, which exhibits the vi­ terial’s physical and mechanical characteristics, as this manuscript re­
bration of the benzene skeleton coupled with C–H deformations, could ports. The heterogeneity and high surface-to-volume ratio of organic
be the source of the peaks between 1425 cm− 1 and 1495 cm− 1. The matter in wood contribute to its ability to be enhanced [15]. Further­
peaks between 700 cm− 1 and 780 cm− 1 would exhibit the pyranose ring more, adding wood makes the composite stronger because wood particle
layers swell and the wood and polymer HDPE have a strong surface

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M.P.M. Subasinghe et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. FTIR spectroscopy.

Fig. 6. SEM micrographs of tensile fracture surfaces of (a) Pure HDPE(x150) (b) microwave treated WPC(x100) and (c) Untreated WPC(x200).

adhesion. Because of this, the findings indicate that the tensile strength could have more or less microwave treated wood to create an optimal
and Young’s moduli of the WPC have increased as the amount of compound which may give better physical and mechanical character­
microwave-treated wood increases from 5% and 10%. These results istics. This could be used in real life applications.
could be referred to in future experimentation to create WPCs which

6
M.P.M. Subasinghe et al.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
M.P.M. Subasinghe: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software,
Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Writing –
original draft, Writing – review & editing. Kok Heng Soon: Supervision,
Resources. Rudy Vui Keong Ko: Data curation. Elammaran Jayamani:
Writing – review & editing, Supervision. Hui Leng Choo: Data curation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal re­
lationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:
[Kok Heng Soon reports equipment, drugs, or supplies was provided by
Forest Department of Sarawak].
Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.
Acknowledgment
This research was supported in part by the Fundamental Research
Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (FRGS/1/2019/
TK05/SWIN/02/1).
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