Physico-Mechanical Properties of Particleboards Produced from Macadamia Nutshell and Gum Arabic

Abstract

Due to the rising prices and high demand for panels and the fact that formaldehyde—a known carcinogen—is used to manufacture conventional particleboard, this study investigated the suitability of particleboard formed from ground macadamia nutshells mixed with 50%, 40%, 30%, and 20% of gum Arabic and determined its physical and mechanical properties. The specific gravity, the bulk density, the x-ray fluorescence, and the scanning electron microscopy analysis of the two materials were analyzed. After production, the particleboards were cured for 56 days in an acclimatized room; then, the physical and mechanical properties were evaluated. Particleboards mixed with 50% gum Arabic and 50% macadamia nutshell showed good results in terms of the lowest average values of water absorption (9.42%) and thickness swelling (6.22%) after 24 h of immersion in distilled water as well as the highest density (1219.20 kg/m3), modulus of rupture (12.21 MPa), modulus of elasticity (1.81 GPa), internal bond strength (1.25 MPa), and compressive strength (22.54 MPa). According to ANSI/A208.1-1999, the particleboards produced met the standard for general-purpose boards except for water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) characteristics, which were above the maximum of 8% and 3%, respectively.

Performance of eucalypt particleboard with the addition of farm waste

“…The void content greatly affects the strength of the agglomerate to withstand external loads, therefore, voids are precursors of possible cracks [ 62 , 63 ].…”

Employing spatial, hybrid and amplitude roughness parameters for unveiling the surface roughness features of mineral and organic admixtures

“…It should be mentioned that the method of preparing the materials manifests surface roughness character of such materials [ 9 ]. It must be mentioned about a commonly known characterisation process of surface morphology, texture and roughness of mineral admixtures using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reported in literature [ [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] ], which is similar to atomic force microscope (AFM), but leaves the quantitative surface roughness parameters out of sight. Examining the details of mineral admixtures using SEM has turned out to be limited for measurements of surface roughness parameters since the method is usually based on qualitative assessment [ 23 ].…”

Production of Particleboard Using Various Particle Size Hemp Shives as Filler

“…More recently, options to use resin or natural starch-type binders have been explored to produce even more environmentally friendly composites and boards from hemp shives, rice husks, sunflower stalk, mycelium, and nut shells [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Such development is due to rising prices of resources worldwide and the need for more locally supplied stock.…”