Abstract
Formaldehyde emissions from conventional particleboards raise issues of health and safety. One of the potential solutions is binderless particleboards made without using synthetic adhesives. However, the physical and mechanical properties of untreated binderless particleboards are relatively poor compared to conventional particleboards. This research aims to reveal the potential of using steam pretreatment to improve binderless particleboard properties made from oil palm trunk. The oil palm trunk particles were treated with steam pretreatment for different durations of time (20, 40, 60 min). The chemical constituents of the treated and untreated particles were evaluated. The binderless particleboards were made from treated and untreated particles. In addition, panels using untreated oil palm trunk particles with 10% urea–formaldehyde resin were made and used as a comparison. The boards were evaluated according to European Standards. The results indicated that the hemicellulose and starch content gradually reduced with the progression of steam pretreatment. The physical and mechanical properties were improved by increasing steam pretreatment duration. The steam pretreatment was able to improve the properties of binderless particleboards made from oil palm trunk. However, the performance of steam-pretreated binderless particleboard in this study is not compatible with the particleboards made using 10% urea–formaldehyde.
Highlights
The public health concern regarding formaldehyde emissions from particleboard manufacturing using formaldehyde-based adhesives has increased since the end of the 20th century [1,2]
Since binderless particleboards are made without using any synthetic adhesives, they are theoretically safer for the end user
Steam pretreatment resulted in degradation of hemicellulose and starch compounds via hydrolysis, where these compounds are crucial in water uptake of lignocellulosic material, increasing the hydrophobicity of the particles [17]
Summary
The public health concern regarding formaldehyde emissions from particleboard manufacturing using formaldehyde-based adhesives has increased since the end of the 20th century [1,2]. Many researchers have begun to investigate alternative methods to overcome this issue Throughout their efforts, besides the research on environmentally friendly adhesives such as starch-based adhesives [3,4,5], some researchers have proposed a new technique for making particleboards. This involves forming particleboards without using the addition of any adhesives, which are known as binderless particleboards. The manufacture of binderless particleboards is dependent on the self-bonding properties of lignocellulosic wood particles. Since binderless particleboards are made without using any synthetic adhesives, they are theoretically safer for the end user. Their strength could be relatively low compared to conventional particleboards
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