Particleboard based on glutardialdehyde treated oil palm trunk particles made at different pressing temperatures

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pressing temperature on chemical modification of oil palm particles as raw material for particleboard manufacturing. This study aims to evaluate the properties of particleboard made from chemically modified oil palm biomass and to determine the effect of pressing temperature on the properties of the particleboard. Oil palm was used in this study due to the problem arose where an abundance of oil palm was left at the site to be rotten when undergoing the replanting process. Therefore, this research was conducted to utilise the abundant oil palm trunk to fulfill the need of wood-based panel in Malaysia. Samples of oil palm trunk were collected and ground into smaller particle before treated with glutardialdehyde solution. The treated oil palm particle then inserted into the mould with a dimension of 21 cm x 21 cm x 0.5 cm to get the uniform size of particleboard before undergoing the process of hot pressing. The temperature was set at 130 ℃, 140 ℃ and 150 ℃ for 10 minutes under pressure of 500 kgcm-2 by using the hot pressing machine. Physical (density, moisture content, water absorption, and thickness swelling test) and mechanical (bending test) strength of the manufactured particleboard were tested afterward. The result showed that best particleboard was manufactured using 140 ℃ which yield the highest MOR of 3.09 N/mm2 and 340.51 N/mm2 for MOE.