Effect of microwave treatment on bending properties of carbon nanotube/wood plastic composites by selective laser sintering

As an attempt to tackle the problem of low strength and poor relative density of carbon nanotube (CNT)/wood-plastic composites (WPC) manufactured by selective laser sintering (SLS), microwave treatment was utilized to post-treat the SLS parts for the first time. The effects of microwave treatment on bending properties and microstructure of CNT/pine wood powder/polyether sulfone (PES) composites by SLS were investigated. The results show that microwave treatment for less than 60 s can improve the bending strength of CNT/WPC by 4.2-64.2% and it has little effect on SLS parts of both the WPC and its PES matrix. This maybe because CNT under microwave irradiation can release intense heat and transfer it to the PES matrix around CNT, leading to PES's remelting partially and then solidifying rapidly, which results in better interfacial bonding between CNTs, PES matrix and wood powder. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.