Investigation on evaluation opportunities of impregnated products containing creosote that completed the service in wood plastic composites (WPCs)

In this study, accelerated and natural outdoor performances, biological resistances, physical, mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of WPCs produced in order to the recycle and remediate of out of service creosote treated utility poles were investigated. In addition, structure of creosote was illuminated by the help of GC/MS. As a result, it was observed that 40% of the designated 250 compounds represented the PAHs. A large part of the PAHs were removed through remidation process. According to the parameters obtained in weathering tests (such as FTIR, discoloration, roughness) the WPCs produced from creosote treated wood powder showed the best performance. The parameters mentioned above increased with the increase in wood ratio, and decreased with the use of coupling agents. YYPE demonstrated superiority in terms of outdoor performances compared to PP. In ground contact test, white rot fungus was isolated and identified in control and Scotch pine samples. Thermite damage was also observed in Scotch pine samples. In marine test, while superficial damage occurred in control groups, solid Scotch pine samples were completely destroyed by T. navalis. The weight losses in creosote groups were at very low level after the decay tests. The water intake and increase in thickness were observed to be high in remidation groups. While bending and tensile strengths were lower in creosote treated WPCs compared to control, PP groups gave better results in terms of bending, tensile and screw withdrawal strengths except for the impact resistance.