The melting temperature of nylon 12 is lower than the degradation temperature of wood, which makes the preparation of wood-(nylon 12) composites through a regular compounding/ compression molding process possible. Results indicated that wood-(nylon 12) composites had higher modulus of rupture, higher modulus of elasticity, and higher tensile strength than nylon 12, wood-polypropylene (PP) composites, and wood-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites, respectively. Wood-(nylon 12) composites also had higher thermal stability than wood-PP composites and wood-HDPE composites. Acting as a nucleating agent, wood increased the crystallization temperature and the degree of crystallinity of nylon 12 in wood-(nylon 12) composites. The superior mechanical properties of wood-(nylon 12) composites were ascribed to the good interfacial adhesion between wood and nylon 12 and the increased transcrystallinity of nylon 12 by wood. (C) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 270-276, 2007