Direct production of all-wood plastics by kneading in ionic liquids/DMSO

All-wood plastics (AWP) were produced directly by a non-chemical method. Plasticization of mulberry wood for injection-moulding was achieved after the structural destruction of the wood cell walls in the presence of ILs. Ball-milled mulberry wood (BMMW) was firstly kneaded in the cosolvents of dimethyl sulfoxide/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (DMSO/BMIMCl) and dimethyl sulfoxide/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (DMSO/BMIMAcO), respectively, and AWP were then obtained after the removal of DMSO with ionic liquids (ILs) remained in the final products. The thermal flow and mechanical results revealed that the AWP obtained with DMSO/BMIMAcO exhibited better thermal flowability and mechanical properties than those obtained with DMSO/BMIMCl indicating that the thermoplasticity of AWP is related to the ILs' anionic ability of destroying the hydrogen bonds networks in the rigid crystalline region of cellulose. In addition, the morphologies of the AWP fractured surface revealed that the interfacial adhesions between flowable wood components and non-flowable particles had obvious effects on the tensile, flexural strength and Young's modulus of AWP. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.