Properties of particleboard produced from discard sawdust and cassava waste blends

Abstract

The felling of wood has resulted in environmental problems such as deforestation and climatic change. One way of solving this problem of high demand is by sourcing alternative raw materials for the production of particleboards. In the prevailing literature, there is a lack of methodical studies including variation water adsorption of particleboards developed from sawdust and cassava waste (starch) in the tropics and exposure period, and trends of compaction and bulk density of the particleboard and cement fraction. In this research, for (i) enhancing the particleboard produced from sawdust waste and cassava starch, (ii) increasing use of cement fraction was employed, (1) key properties particleboard produced were determined according to ASTM standards, and (2) finally, regression models as a function of cement content were postulated for the water adsorption. The water-absorbent of the particleboard increased with the increase in the exposure period and cement content. Water adsorption (W a ) is correlated with cement fraction through the least square regression method. The quadratic equation is appropriate for W a at the different exposure periods. The R 2 values range from 0.9984 to 0.9996, expressing these equations marginally reflect the discrepancy of W a . The higher changes in the compressive strength and bulk density of the particleboards at the higher cement blend compared to those lower and no cement blends, implying better compaction between the mixture of sawdust-starch. The results of the study can help physical property collection for the particleboard industry and guide for improving the properties of particleboards in the tropics.