Development and characterization of bamboo - sesame stalk hybrid urea-formaldehyde matrix composite for particleboard application

Abstract

This research's main objective is to develop new composite material and evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of particleboards made of Bamboo and Sesame stalk bonded with urea–formaldehyde resin. The composite material was prepared by crushing bamboo and sesame stalk and blended with 14.5% of urea–formaldehyde, 3% of hardener, 1.5% of paraffin wax 2.5% of boric acid through hand mixing. Nine samples of particleboards were produced with their proportions through the experiment's Taguchi design (L9) approach. Minitab 16 software package is used for experimental result analysis. Physical and mechanical properties, including internal bonding strength, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, moisture content, water absorption, and thickness swelling tests, were conducted. Internal bonding (IB), Water Absorption, Modulus of Elasticity (MOE), and Thickness Swelling are above the minimum requirement. However, Moisture contents, Modulus of rupture are significantly decreased from the standard. The optimum factors combination for the betterment of performance were bamboo to sesame ratio (2:1), pressure (25 N/mm2), and second level particle size (D2 = 0.5 to 1.5 mm for the surface layer and 1.5 to 2.5 mm for core layer).