Published : 2021-01-15

Contact angle assessment of wood-polymer composites treated with activated sludge

Abstract

Due to their unique properties, wood-polymer composites (WPC) can be successfully used in many branches of industry including fillings/carriers in wastewater treatment technology based on moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). The changes in wettability of WPC composites treated by activated sludge for 6 or 12 months were investigated. Wettability is a property that significantly influences the degree of absorption and aggregation of the material. They mainly depend on the surface energy, the value of which determines, among others, the rate and degree of biofilm aggregation as well as water absorbability of a given material. Research has shown a direct effect of the composition of WPC material (including filler content and particle size) and the residence time of WPC in the active sludge bioreactor on the value of the contact angle. The wettability values of reference samples, not exposed to the activated sludge, were comparable and independent from the composition. After extending the exposure time to 12 months the wettability of composites was significantly worsened, because the structure of the composites have been colonized in a permanent manner.


Details

Statistics

Authors

Download files

PDF (Język Polski)

Kruszelnicka, I., Ginter-Kramarczyk, D., Rudawska, A., Zajchowski, S., & Tomaszewska, J. (2021). Contact angle assessment of wood-polymer composites treated with activated sludge. Polimery, 62(3), 208-214. https://doi.org/10.14314/polimery.2017.208