Rice Straw and Flax Fiber Particleboards as a Product of Agricultural Waste: An Evaluation of Technical Properties

Zakia Hussein,Mervat Khalil,Samir Ali,Jutta Hollands,Taha Ashour,Adel Bahnasawy,Azra Korjenic

doi:10.3390/app9183878

Abstract

Construction materials have a direct impact on the environment, on people, and their health. In addition, building insulation plays a decisive role in terms of energy consumption of buildings and regarding CO2-emissions over their whole life cycle. In order to achieve a holistic concept for green building worldwide, it is necessary to develop ecological insulating materials and to scientifically examine them in terms of their technical properties, as done with particleboards from agricultural waste presented in this article. This study aims to characterize the properties’ tensile and compressive strength, modulus of rupture (MOR), and elasticity (MOE) and thermal conductivity of particleboards affected by parameters, such as waste type (rice straw or flax shives), particleboard density, resin type, and content, as well as the use of treated rice straw. Particleboards made from flax shives had superior properties compared to the rice straw particles. The mechanical properties of the boards increase with an increasing resin content, except for the MOR and MOE, which decrease with an increasing resin content, and reach their peak value at a resin content of 10%.

Highlights

IntroductionEnergy demand and costs for heating during winter and cooling during summer are very high
Energy demand and costs for heating during winter and cooling during summer are very high.Building insulation can reduce these expenses, which is why its use is becoming more and more important
The results indicated that the particleboards blended with corn starch and binderless particleboards superior thermal conductivity to that blended with urea formaldehyde

Summary

Introduction

Energy demand and costs for heating during winter and cooling during summer are very high. Building insulation can reduce these expenses, which is why its use is becoming more and more important. Due to the increased use, the production of suitable materials is just as important. Insulation materials are usually produced from inorganic materials, even though some of those materials have been prohibited due to the suspicion of health risks in the past. These materials do have a high impact on the environment. This is why it is important to investigate insulation materials based on organic materials

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