High-performance wood composites from desert shrub Salix psammophila

Salix psammophila (SP), a desert shrub willow, plays an important role in preserving local ecosystems, and it is regarded to have high potential as an alternative raw material in the wood industry. However, its inferior characteristics such as small diameter and difficulty of barking result in a low utilization rate and a low added value. In this study, flattening and separation (FS) technology combined with impregnation of resins and hot-pressing was applied to convert SP branch residues to high-performance wood composites. The effects of FS repetition, hot-pressing temperature, composite density and resin content on the physical-mechanical properties were investigated to find the optimum parameters for industrial production. The results indicated that SP can be used as a potential material for manufacturing greenwood composites with high mechanical strength and high dimensional stability.