The Influence of Processing and Particle Size on Binderless Particleboards Made from Arundo donax L. Rhizome

Abstract

The giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is considered one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. The main method by which this species propagates is by growth of scattered fragments of rhizome, spreading without control with very strong, deep roots. Agricultural waste consists of lignocellulosic materials that can substitute natural wood and offer a suitable alternative with which to manufacture boards for furniture, packaging and building purposes. The objectives of this work were to obtain binderless particleboards using giant reed rhizome as the raw material, to evaluate their mechanical and physical properties according to the applicable European standards and to assess the self-binding mechanism of the particles in the board. Six types of boards (12 classes) were manufactured with giant reed rhizome biomass. They were manufactured with a temperature of 110 • C, a pressure of 2.5 MPa and pressing times of 7 and 15 min, applying one or two pressing cycles. The results achieved for modulus of rupture (14.2 N/mm 2 ), modulus of elasticity (2052.45 N/mm 2 ) and internal bonding strength (1.12 N/mm 2 ) show that the mechanical properties were improved by using a smaller rhizome particle size and two pressing cycles.

The role of lignin in wood working processes using elevated temperatures: an abbreviated literature survey

“…Several parameters influence the physical and mechanical properties of wood panels: chemical composition (Widyorini et al 2005;Lui et al 2018), particle size and geometry (Widyorini et al 2011;Kurokochi and Sato 2015a, b;Lui et al 2018;Ahmad et al 2019;Ferrandez-Villena et al 2020), pressing temperature (Okuda et al 2006a;Gao et al 2011;Hashim et al 2011;Boon et al 2013;Milawarni et al 2019;Song et al 2020), pressing time (Xu et al 2006;Gao et al 2011;Boon et al 2013;Ferrandez-Villena et al 2020), pressure (Boon et al 2013); water content (Widyorini et al 2005;Xu et al 2006), and pretreatment (Xu et al 2006;Takahashi et al 2010), etc. Trichomes and wart-like protuberances on the epidermis of herbaceous straw might inhibit the bonding between particles.…”

The effects of continuous press speed and conditioning time on the particleboard properties at industrial scale

“…Time and temperature combinations should be optimized to obtain a proper cure of binder and loss of enough moisture to avoid steam blisters, but it should be taken into consideration that reducing the time in pressing can cause a proportional reduction in strength of board (Heebink et al 1972). An increase in pressing time provides advances in mechanical properties but for better TS and WA performance press time can be shorter (Ferrandez-Villena et al 2020).…”

“…Yel et al (2020) evaluated the effect of press temperature (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 °C) on cement-bonded PB produced with spruce and poplar wood species, and stated that exceeding the 60 °C causes reverse effects on the properties. Ferrandez-Villena et al (2020) evaluated the effects of pressing time (7, 7+7, 15, 15+15 min), pressing cycle (two cycles of 7+7 and 15+15 min), and particle size on the the properties of PB produced using Arundo donax L. The authors stated that mechanical properties are increased with the increase in time. On the contrary, a shorter pressing time caused better TS and WA values.…”

The effect of the size and shape of wood particles on the tensile strength perpendicular to the plane of the particleboard: Experiments and modeling

“…Contemporary PB technologies [3,4,5] allow the rational use of large volumes of low-quality wood (Fig. 1), as well as waste from the processing of reed [6], bamboo [7] and other types of raw materials of plant origin [8], which contributes to the increase environmental safety and sustainability of socio-economic development [1,6]. The disadvantages of PBs include the potential for formaldehyde emission.…”