The Natural Material Particleboard: Case Study of Rice Straw, Rubber Tree Leaves, and Water Hyacinth

Abstract

The research aimed at 1) studying the possibility of using rice straw, rubber tree leaves, and water hyacinth to substitute natural materials for particleboard production 2) studying the proper mixture ratio of rice straw, rubber tree leaves, and water hyacinth to adhesive ingredient, and
3) studying physical and mechanical properties of particleboard from rice straw, the rubber tree leaves, and the water hyacinth. The urea formaldehyde glue was used as the adhesive ingredient for producing 40×40×1 cm particleboards. Thai industrial standard for flat pressed particleboard (TIS. 876-2547) is used for testing the physical properties (density, humidity, and swelling) and the mechanical properties (flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and tensile strength perpendicular to surface). The results are 1) The rice straw is an appropriate material for the natural material particleboard production because its physical and mechanical properties meet the Thai industrial standard of flat pressed particleboard (TIS. 876-2547). Therefore, this can be used for low strength works. 2) The weight mixture ratio of rice straw and urea formaldehyde glue in the natural material particleboard production is 80:20. The rice straw can be dried or undried, and cut or uncut. 3) The developed rice straw particleboard in terms of density, humidity, swelling, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and tensile strength perpendicular to surface are 738.24-797.48 kg/m3, 5.89%-7.07%, 10.64%-11.57%, 14.75-14.60 MPa, 1.93-1.96 GPa, and 0.44-0.45 MPa, respectively.