Utilization of lychee pruning timber as alternative raw materials for manufacturing tubular particleboard

Abstract

Lychee pruning timber can annually provide approximately 7.8-million-ton lignocellulose resources for particleboard manufacturing in China instead of discharging or burning, which cause various forms of environmental pollution. Herein, tubular particleboards are manufactured using lychee wood particles and epoxy resin tubes. Chemical composition analysis shows that lychee wood is abundant in cellulose and lignin, and TG and FTIR characterize the degradation of lignin at high temperatures, facilitating close bonding between shavings and enhancing the mechanical properties of tubular particleboards. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to comprehensively evaluate the mechanical strength and dimensional stability of particleboard with different hot-pressing temperatures, hot-pressing pressures, and board thicknesses. The 20 mm tubular particleboard manufactured at 210 °C and 3.5 MPa exhibited a modulus of rupture (MOR) of 16.71 MPa, modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 1810.25 MPa, and internal bonding strength (IB) of 0.5 MPa, qualifying the EN standard for P2-type particleboard, which can be used in construction and furniture manufacturing.