WOOD & BIOFIBER PLASTIC COMPOSITES CONFERENCE

MONDAY MORNING, MAY 11

OPENING PLENARY SESSION

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Early History of Bio-based and Petroleum-based Polymers

Tim A. Osswald, Kuo K. & Cindy F. Wang Professor, Polymer Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Wood-Plastic Composite Technology Trends: Fundamental and Applied R&D

Douglas J. Gardner, Professor of Wood Science, and Yousoo Han, Composite Specialist and Research Scientist, Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA

Why Durability Testing is Needed and Methods to Accomplish It

Allen F. Zielnik, Senior Consultant – Weathering Science, Custom - Testing - Solutions Group, Atlas Material Testing Technology LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA

MONDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 11

SESSION IA: Foaming

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Foamed Styrene-based Wood-Plastic Composite using a Physical Blowing Agent Created during Reactive Extrusion

Yousoo Han, Composite Specialist and Research Scientist, and Chris West, WPC Research Associate, Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA; Steve Michalik, Product Development Engineer, SMA Engineering Resins, NOVA Chemicals Inc., Monaca, Pennsylvania, USA; Douglas J. Gardner, Professor of Wood Science, Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA

Microcellular PLA/Cellulosic Fiber Composites Foamed with Supercritical CO2 through a Continuous Extrusion Process

Carlos A. Diaz, Ph.D. Student, and Laurent M. Matuana, Associate Professor, Engineered-Wood-Based Composites, Dept. of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Injection Molding and Mechanical Properties of Cellulose Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Composite Foams

Takashi Kuboki, Post-Doctoral Fellow, J.W.S. Lee, Ph.D. Student, R. Koyama, Visiting Researcher, and Chul B. Park, Canada Research Chair in Microcellular Plastics, Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Dept. of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, and Mohini M. Sain, Professor and Director, Centre for Biocomposites & Biomaterials Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Microcellular Injection Molded Polylactide-Flax Fiber Composites

Srikanth Pilla, Research Assistant, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Adam J. Kramschuster and Jungjoo Lee, Research Assistants, Polymer Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Shaoqin (Sarah) Gong, Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Dept. of Materials, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Lih-Sheng (Tom) Turng, Professor and Co-Director, Polymer Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Measurements and Modeling of the Shear Viscosity of HDPE-Wood Composites/Supercritical CO2 Solution

Jingjing Zhang, Ph.D Candidate, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P.R. China; Jing Wang, Ph.D Candidate, and Chul B. Park, Canada Research Chair in Microcellular Plastics, Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Dept. of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Ghaus M. Rizvi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Hanxiong Huang, Professor, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, P.R. China

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Structures and Properties Characterization of Glass Fiber Reinforced Wood-Plastic Composites

Hamid O. Semeralul, Student Researcher, and Ghaus M. Rizvi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

SESSION IB: Durability

Durability of Wood-Plastic Composites

Jeffrey J. Morrell, Professor, Dept. of Wood Science & Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Issues Impacting Long-Term Durability for WPCs

Mark J. Manning, Global Manager, Preservation Technology, Frederick M. Ascherl, Technical Support Manager, Forest Products, and Mark E. Mankowski, Development Manager, Wood, Rio Tinto Minerals (U.S. Borax), Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA

Effect of Wood Species on the Weathering and Soil Performance of Wood-Plastic Composites

Armando G. McDonald, Professor in Wood Chemistry & Composites, and James S. Fabiyi, former Graduate Student, Dept. of Forest Products, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA; Jeffrey J. Morrell, Professor, Dept. of Wood Science & Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Water Absorption and Durability of Wood-Plastic Composites

Marek Gnatowski, President, Polymer Engineering Co. Ltd., Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Effect of Fire Retardants on Heat Release Rate of Wood Flour-Polyethylene Composites

Nicole M. Stark, Research Chemical Engineer, Scott A. Mueller, Engineering Technician, and Robert H. White, Wood Scientist, USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Tim A. Osswald, Kuo K. & Cindy F. Wang Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 12

SESSION IIA: Performance

Morphological and Micro-Mechanical Characterization of Individual Wood Flour Particles used in WPCs

Farzana Hussain, Ph.D. Candidate, and Lech Muszynski, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Wood Science & Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Nanoindentation Creep in Wood-Plastic Composites

Joseph E. Jakes, Graduate Student, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; John C. Hermanson, Research Engineer, USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Donald S. Stone, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Materials Science Program, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Fracture Behavior of Different Bio-composites Under Cycling Loading

A.K. Bledzki, Professor, and Adam R. Jaszkiewicz, Research Staff Member, Institut für Werkstofftechnik, Universität Kassel, Kassel, Germany

Influence of Loading Rate and Fiber Content on Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness of Polylactide (PLA) and Random Short Hemp Fiber Reinforced PLA Bio-composites

Moyeenuddin A. Sawpan, Ph.D. Student, and Kim L. Pickering, Associate Professor, Dept. of Engineering, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; Alan Fernyhough, Unit Manager of Biomaterials Engineering, SCION, Rotorua, New Zealand

Macroscopic Creep Behavior of Wood-Plastic Composites in Tension, Compression, and Flexure

Scott E. Hamel, Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; John C. Hermanson, Research Engineer, USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Steven M. Cramer, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Characterizing Water Sorption and Diffusion Properties of Wood-Plastic Composites as a Function of Formulation Design

Alireza Kaboorani, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, and Alain Cloutier, Professor and Director, Wood Research Center, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada; Michael P. Wolcott, Professor, Wood Materials & Engineering Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA. Presented by Karl Englund, Assistant Research Professor and Extension Specialist, Wood Materials & Engineering Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

SESSION IIB: Products & Materials

Acceptance of WPCs by Building Professionals and Their Customers

Robert J. Tichy, Senior Research Engineer, Wood Materials & Engineering Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA; Paul M. Smith, Professor, School of Forest Resources, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Novel Highly Weatherable WPC Deck Boards Created by a Tri-Extrusion Process

Gregory G. Anderson, Product Technology Manager, BASF Corporation, Wyandotte, Michigan, USA

Natural Fiber Composites in Transportation Applications – Fiber Preparation, Surface Modification, and Preform Manufacturing Synergy

Kevin L. Simmons and Leonard S. Fifield, Senior Research Scientists, Dan Howe, Development Engineer, and Sachin Laddha and Cheng Huang, Research Scientists, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA

New and Economic Options for WPC Protection and Long-Term Durability

Kelly L. Williams, Business Development Manager, Inhance/Fluoro-Seal, Loveland, Ohio, USA. Presented by Bernard D. Baumann, Inhance/Fluoro-Seal Ltd., Houston, Texas, USA

The Use of Peroxides in Wood-Plastic Composites

Peter R. Dluzneski, Senior Research Scientist, Organic Peroxides, Arkema, Inc., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA

TUESDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 12

SESSION IIIA: Materials

Adhesion Phenomena in Wood-Plastic Composites

Douglas J. Gardner, Professor of Wood Science, and Gloria S. Oporto, Ph.D. Candidate, Advanced Engineering Wood Composites Center and Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative, and David J. Neivandt, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA

Effects of Coupling Agent and Wood Species on Selected Properties of High-Density Polyethylene/Woodfiber Composites

S.Y. (Tony) Zhang, Research Scientist, FPInnovations – Forintek Division, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Yaolin Zhang, Research Scientist, FPInnovations – Forintek Division, Québec City, Québec, Canada

Silane-Crosslinking Efficiency in Wood-Polyethylene Composites: Study of Different Polyethylenes

Göran Grubbström, Ph.D. Student, and Kristiina Oksman Niska, Professor, Division of Manufacturing & Design of Wood & Bionanocomposites, Luleå University of Technology, Skellefteå, Sweden

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Studies of Conducting Nanocrystalline Cellulose Composites

Syed-Abthagir Pitchaimydeen, Post-Doctoral Fellow, and Ning Yan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Nanofibrillated Cellulose Reinforced Fibers

Tanja Zimmermann, Senior Scientist and Group Leader, Cellulose Nanocomposites, Wood Laboratory, Giuseppino Fortunato, Senior Scientist, and Joern Luebben, Scientist, Advanced Fibers Laboratory, and Nico Bordeanu, former Post-Doctoral Associate, Cellulose Nanocomposites, Wood Laboratory, Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing & Research, Duebendorf, Switzerland

Chemical Modification of Cellulose Whiskers with Acetic Anhydride

Nihat S. Cetin and Nilgül Ozmen, Associate Professors, Faculty of Forestry, Forest Industry Engineering, Kahramanmaras Sütçü Imam Üniversitesi, Kahramanmaras, Turkey; Philippe Tingaut, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, and David P. Harper, Assistant Professor, Forest Products Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

SESSION IIIB: Processing

Influence of Processing Parameters on the Mechanical Performance of Injection Molded Wood-Plastic Composites

Christoph Burgstaller, Research and Project Leader, and Wolfgang Stadlbauer, Managing Director, Transfercentre for Plastics Technology (TCKT), Wels, Austria

Comparison of Two Wood-Plastic Composite Extrusion Processes using Statistical Reliability Analysis

Kevin A. Crookston, Graduate Research Assistant, Forest Products Center and Dept. of Statistics, Operations & Management Science, Frank M. Guess, Professor, Dept. of Statistics, Operations & Management Science, and Timothy M. Young, Research Associate Professor, and David P. Harper, Assistant Professor, Forest Products Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

A Comparison of Hemp Reinforced Polyester Composites Fabricated using Hand Lay-up and Compression Molding

John Wolodko, Program Leader, and Aaron Fuhr, Research Engineer, Advanced Materials Business Unit, Alberta Research Council, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Recyclability Index: A Measure to Determine How Recyclable Natural Fiber Plastic Composites Are

Mehdi Tajvidi, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Akio Takemura, Associate Professor, Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Dept. of Biomaterials Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Natural Fiber Composites Manufactured using Long Fiber Thermoplastic (LFT) Compounding and Compression Molding

Kristiina Oksman Niska, Professor, and Aji P. Mathew, Assistant Professor, Division of Manufacturing & Design of Wood & Bionanocomposites, Luleå University of Technology, Skellefteå, Sweden

Properties of Extruded Wood-Plastic Composites Based on Refiner Wood Fibers (Thermomechanical Pulp / TMP Fibers) and Hemp Fibers

Anke Schirp, Project Leader, and Jan Stender, Research Engineer, Fraunhofer-Institute for Wood Research (Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institute, WKI), Braunschweig, Germany

CELLULOSE NANOCOMPOSITES SYMPOSIUM

WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 13

An Overview of Cellulose Nanotechnology – Research and Applications

Mohini M. Sain, Professor and Director, Centre for Biocomposites & Biomaterials Processing, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Green Ionic Liquids for the Production of Fully-Bio-based and Biodegradable All-cellulose Nanocomposites

Benoît Duchemin, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Aji P. Mathew, Assistant Professor, and Kristiina Oksman Niska, Professor, Division of Manufacturing & Design of Wood & Bionanocomposites, Luleå University of Technology, Skellefteå, Sweden

Cellulose Nanocrystal Characterization by AFM

Robert J. Moon, Materials Research Engineer, USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Materials Engineering, Ryan B. Wagner, Graduate Research Assistant, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Mechanical Engineering, R.R. Lahiji, former Graduate Student, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Dept. of Physics, X. Xu, Professor, and Arvind Raman, Associate Professor, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Mechanical Engineering, and R. Reifenberger, Professor, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Dept. of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Cellulose Nanocrystal Suspensions

Derek G. Gray, Professor, Honours Project Coordinator, and NSERC/Paprican Industrial Research Chair in Cellulose Properties & Utilization, Dept. of Chemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Cellulose Nanocrystals in Nanocomposites Manufactured by the Electrospinning Technique

Youssef Habibi, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Maria S. Peresin and Justin Zoppe, Ph.D. Students, and Orlando J. Rojas, Associate Professor, Dept. of Forest Biomaterials Science & Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Processing of Polymer Nanocomposites using Functionalized Cellulose Whiskers

Alain Dufresne, Professor and Head, Converting-Biomaterials-Packaging Group, International School of Paper, Print Media & Biomaterials, Grenoble Institute of Technology, Saint Martin d’Hères, France

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 13

Self-Assembled Bolaform Structures as Surfactants in Cellulose-Plastic Composites

Jae-Woo Kim, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, David P. Harper, Assistant Professor, and Joseph Bozell, Associate Professor, Forest Products Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
POSS Modified Cellulose for Improving Flammability Characteristics of Polystyrene

Douglas M. Fox, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, American University, Washington, D.C., USA and Guest Researcher, Fire Research Division, Building & Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards & Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA; Jieun Lee and Erica Ford, Undergraduate Students, and Eric Balsley, Graduate Student, Dept. of Chemistry, American University, Washington, D.C., USA; Jeffrey W. Gilman, Research Scientist and Group Leader, Fire Research Division, Building & Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards & Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

Porous Cellulose Nanocomposite Foams Synthesized from Pickering – Emulsion Templates

Jonny J. Blaker, Xinxin Li, and Angelika Menner, Research Associates, and Alexander Bismarck, Reader in Advanced Materials, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Preferential Nucleation of Isotactic Polypropylene at Cellulose Nanocrystal Surfaces

Derek G. Gray, Professor, Honours Project Coordinator, and NSERC/Paprican Industrial Research Chair in Cellulose Properties & Utilization, Dept. of Chemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Mechanical Isolation of Cellulose Nanofibers and their Utilization in Novel Nanocomposites for Medical Application

Aji P. Mathew, Assistant Professor, and Kristiina Oksman Niska, Professor, Division of Manufacturing & Design of Wood & Bionanocomposites, Luleå University of Technology, Skellefteå, Sweden

POWERPOINT NOT AVAILABLE
Cellulose Nanofibers and Related Nanocomposites

Antonio N. Nakagaito, Researcher, and Hiroyuki Yano, Professor, RISH – Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, Japan