Micrometer Copper-Zinc Alloy Particles-Reinforced Wood Plastic Composites with High Gloss and Antibacterial Properties for 3D Printing

Abstract

In this work, micrometer copper-zinc alloy particles-reinforced particleboard wood flour/poly (lactic acid) (mCu-Zn/PWF/PLA) wood plastic composites with high gloss and antibacterial properties for 3D printing were prepared by a melt blending process. The structure and properties of the composites with different contents of mCu-Zn were analyzed by means of mechanical testing, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and antibacterial testing. The results showed that the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and antibacterial performance of the composites were significantly improved, as mCu-Zn was added into the wood plastic composites. When adding 2 wt.% mCu-Zn, the flexural strength of mCu-Zn/PWF/PLA composites (with 5 wt.% of particleboard wood flour) (PWF) increased by 47.1% compared with pure poly (lactic acid) (PLA), and 18.9% compared with PWF/PLA wood plastic composites. The surface gloss was increased by 1142.6% compared with PWF/PLA wood plastic composites. Furthermore, the inhibition rates of mCu-Zn/PWF/PLA composites against Escherichia coli reached 90.43%. Therefore, this novel high gloss and antibacterial wood plastic composites for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing have potential applications in personalized and classic furniture, art, toys, etc.

Keywords

• copper-zinc alloy
• wood plastic composites
• mechanical properties
• antibacterial property
• 3d printing