Abstract: This paper mainly researched the effect of water absorption on mold resistance of PE-HD/bambooflour composites. The water absorption, surface morphology and mold ratings of PE-HD/bambooflour composites after mold exposure was investigated. It was found that: water absorption increased with increasing watersoaking time and bamboo content. No obvious correlation and significant difference between water absorption and mold resistance were observed between the mold resistance of composites after 0, 2, 4, 8, 11 d water soaking. In contrast, the bamboo content and the addition of ZnB have a great effect on mold resistance. Composites containing higher bamboo content were more susceptible to mold fungi, and the addition of ZnB remarkably improved the mold resistance of WPC by decreaseing mold ratings from 3~4 to 0~1.

Key words: high density polyethylene, bamboo flour, water absorption, mold resistance