Cellulose Graft Copolymers for Potential Adhesive Applications Bonding of Plastics to Wood

Bonding of hydrophobic plastic materials to wood to create new wood-plastic (polystyrene) materials with improved mechanical and physical properties that incorporate the desirable features of each constituent is difficult to achieve, This is due to poor interfacial adhesion between the wood and polystyrene components because of their inherent incompatibility. New, well-defined, tailored cellulosepolystyrene graft copolymers have recently been prepared using anionic polymerization techniques. Preliminary bonding studies showed that these graft copolymers can function effectively as compatibilizers or interfacial agents to bond hydrophobic plastic (polystyrene) material to wood, evolving into a new class of composites.