As an important industry of the national economy, the development of furniture manufacturing industry is very rapid. In particular, with the development of panel furniture industry, wood-based panels have become a necessary choice for furniture material for modern families in recent years. As a new particleboard material, in order to be more widely used in the furniture industry, it is not enough to have the characteristics of environmental protection. The material should also have excellent appearance and dimensional stability, so as to change people’s dependence on traditional wood-based panels. In this study, the rice straw particleboard (RSP) substrate was veneered by Betula sp. and Cyclobalanopsis glauca. In the process of veneering, different RSP specimens were treated by different sanding thicknesses and moisture contents of the RSP substrate, glue spread, species and thickness of veneer. The dimensional stability of different RSP specimens after veneering was analyzed. Based on the same variables, the change in the panel dimension and warp degree of the specimens of RSP which the sanding thickness was 0.2 mm were higher than the specimens with a sanding thickness of 0.6 mm. The dimensional stability of specimens of Cyclobalanopsis glauca veneer was better than that of Betula sp. veneer. A certain degree of change within the appropriate moisture content had a little effect on dimensional stability of veneered RSP. The greater of the amount of glue, the worse the dimensional stability of veneered RSP. The thinner the veneer, the worse was the dimensional stability of the veneered RSP.

To explore the effects of roughness on the tactile properties of rice straw particleboard (RSP), the surface roughness and psychological tactile and visual experiments were conducted for RSP substrates with 0.76 g/cm3 and 0.55 g/cm3 densities after sanding with sandpaper (mesh 180#, 360#, and 600#). The effects of different sandpaper types, sanding time, and density of RSP on the surface roughness were analyzed. The experimental results are as follows. The sanding treatment had significant influence on the surface roughness characterization parameters Ra and Rpv of the RSP specimens. Surface roughness differences between the 180# and 360# mesh-prepared samples were obvious. The tactile and visual psychological values of the 360# and 600# mesh-sanded specimens were higher, and the psychological quantities of untreated and 180# mesh-sanded specimens were lower. After comparing the samples with sanding treatment of sandpaper 0∼180#, the change in surface roughness of RSP with a density of 0.76 g/cm3 was smaller than that of the specimen with a density of 0.55 g/cm3. The psychological quantity difference of RSP specimens with a density of 0.55 g/cm3 was evident. When the sanding time was 1 min., the values of the roughness characterization parameters Ra and Rpv increased slightly. After 3 min. sanding, the Ra and Rpv values stabilized. When the sanding time was 5 min, the roughness was essentially unchanged. With the change in sanding time, the measured values of the tactile psychological quantity varied greatly and the measured values of the visual psychology were very close. For the RSP substrates with higher density, the surface roughness was less after sanding with a smoother surface and better tactile properties. There were significant differences between the surface roughness of the RSPs before and after sanding. After manual sanding over the same time span, the surface roughness evaluation parameter values decreased with an increase of mesh size of the sandpaper, and the tactile properties were improved. The longer the sanding time, the smaller the difference in the surface roughness parameter values, and the smaller the difference between the tactile psychological quantity and the visual psychological quantity. To expand the research scope of RSP products, this study investigates not only the physical and chemical properties but also the subjective feelings when using the RSP products. This will provide analytical methods and design guidelines for the consideration of environmental factors in furniture and interior design.

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The surface activity of rice straw particleboard (RSP), which has a significant effect on the finishing and bonding performance, is reduced by wax coating and free radicals on the straw fiber. The RSP surface was treated by corona treatment and alkali treatment to reveal the effects of different treatments on the surface activity of RSP. The infiltration height method was applied to evaluate the variation of surface activity. The alkalized samples of RSP with different densities were prepared by using sodium hydroxide solution with pH value of 8∼14. The samples of different densities were then subjected to corona treatment under high purity oxygen conditions with treatment power of 50 W, 100 W, 300 W, and 500 W and with a time of 4 min or 7 min. The surface activity of the treated specimens was evaluated by measuring the absorption properties of three kinds of liquids by infiltration-height method: distilled water, glycerin, and alcohol. The results revealed the following. (1) After alkalization treatment, the surface absorption performance of RSP for these three liquids was improved, and it increased with the increase of pH value of the treatment solution. The suitable pH value of the alkalized solution for RSP is 7∼11, which can improve the surface absorption performance. (2) After corona treatment, the surface absorption performance of RSP increased with the increase of corona treatment power. RSP had the highest surface absorption performance for alcohol. With the density of RSP increased, the surface absorbability slightly decreased. Therefore, it is not suitable to utilize corona treatment in improving absorption for the higher density RSP. At the same time, with the variation of corona treatment time, the absorption of RSP surface changed irregularly because of the polarity of different test liquids. (3) The reasonable parameters of alkalization treatment and corona treatment are beneficial in improving the gluability of RSP. These results have guiding significance for RSP surface decoration process.