Mechanical Performance of Biodegradable Thermoplastic Polymer-Based Biocomposite Boards from Hemp Shivs and Corn Starch for the Building Industry

Bio-sourced materials combined with a polymer matrix offer an interesting alternative to traditional building materials. To contribute to their wider acceptance and application, an investigation into the use of wood-polymer composite boards is presented. In this study, biocomposite boards (BcB) for the building industry are reported. BcB are fabricated using a dry incorporation method of corn starch (CS) and hemp shiv (HS) treatment with water at 100 °C. The amount of CS and the size of the HS fraction are evaluated by means of compressive bending and tensile strength, as well as microstructure. The results show that the rational amount of CS independently of HS fraction is 10 wt.%. The obtained BcB have compressive stress at 10% of deformation in the range of 2.4-3.0 MPa, bending of 4.4-6.3 MPa, and tensile strength of 0.23-0.45 MPa. Additionally, the microstructural analysis shows that 10 wt.% of CS forms a sufficient amount of contact zones that strengthen the final product.