Nanotechnology Is Topic at Wood-Plastics Composites Conference

Newswise — When an expected 400 researchers, educators and manufacturers from more than a dozen nations gather in Madison, Wis., in May to discuss the latest developments in composite materials made from plastics and wood fiber, they’ll devote a part of their program to nanotechnology, one of the most intriguing topics to sweep through scientific and engineering research in recent years.

The agenda for the 8th International Conference on Woodfiber-Plastic Composites, to be held at Madison’s Monona Terrace May 23-25, includes, for the first time, an entire half-day session devoted to nanocomposites. The session will include papers by researchers from Argentina, Great Britain, Kuwait and Norway, as well as the United States. Topics will include the use of very small particles from wood or other natural fiber as filler or reinforcement in composite materials, the addition of nanoclays to wood-plastic composite materials, and the addition of nanoclays to cellulose-based polymers.

“At past conferences, occasional presentations have dealt with nanotechnology, but this is the first year we’ve made it a major topic,” said Craig M. Clemons, materials research engineer at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) and chair of the upcoming conference.

Other scheduled sessions will focus on more traditional topics: materials and processing, matrices, engineering properties, adhesion, additives, and durability of wood-plastic composites. A total of 46 research papers and 22 poster presentations by speakers from some 15 countries are scheduled during the two-and-a-half-day conference.

The annual conference, begun in 1991 by FPL in collaboration with the Forest Products Society, has become the largest conference of its kind dealing with composite materials made from wood fiber and plastic. The conference is held every other year in Madison, Wis.

The Forest Products Society handles registration and other administrative tasks for the conference. For information about the conference, contact the Forest Products Society, phone 608-231-1361, e-mail conference@forestprod.org, or visit the society’s website: http://www.forestprod.org.

“Composite materials made from virgin or recycled plastics and wood or other natural fibers have been around for several decades, but in the past 10 to 15 years the use of wood-plastic composites has grown as researchers, manufacturers and material suppliers gained understanding of the material and learned how to produce materials with specific desired qualities. Composites are stiffer and can be stronger than pure plastic. They can be molded or extruded into complex shapes. They are also easily recycled. These characteristics have led to their increased use in many applications such as special-purpose lumber for decks or trim, railings, and automobile components,” said conference chair Clemons.

The expanded application of nanotechnology—the science of very small particles of matter, ranging in size from one to 100 nanometers—in the design and manufacture of composites is expected to lead to improved materials and manufacturing processes. (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; a typical sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. A nanoscale-size particle can contain anywhere from fewer than 100 to several thousand atoms.)

The important thing to materials researchers is that nanoparticles behave and react very differently from single atoms or molecules or large quantities of the same matter. The unique, sometimes surprising, qualities of nanomaterials create the potential for developing composites that have new and improved performance characteristics and could make possible entirely new composites with performance capabilities never before possible.

The conference will be hosted by the FPL, in cooperation with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the University of Tennessee in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Toronto and Materials & Manufacturing Ontario, and the Forest Products Society. Luzenac America will sponsor a reception Monday evening, and Specialty Minerals, Inc. is sponsoring speaker travel.

The USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory, located in Madison, Wis., was established in 1910 with the mission of conserving and extending America’s wood resources. Today, its research scientists work with academic and industrial researchers and other government agencies in exploring ways to promote healthy forests and clean water, and improve paper-making and recycling processes. Through the Advanced Housing Research Center, FPL researchers also work to develop and improve homebuilding technologies and materials.