Physico-Mechanical and Biological Durability of Citric Acid-Bonded Rubberwood Particleboard
Zhou Huaxu, Seng Hua Lee, Paridah Md Tahir, Zaidon Ashaari, Syeed SaifulAzry Osman Al Edrus, Nor Azowa Ibrahim, Luqman Chuah Abdullah, Siti Fatahiyah Mohamad
Abstract
were produced with three different citric acid contents, namely 10, 15 and 20 wt%. Particleboards made from 10 wt% urea formaldehyde (UF) resin were served as control for comparison purposes. FTIR analysis was carried out and the formation of ester linkages between -OH on cellulose and carbonyl groups of citric acid was confirmed. The peak intensity increased along with increasing citric content, which indicated that a higher amount of ester linkages were formed at higher citric acid content. Citric acid-bonded particleboard had inferior physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling) and mechanical properties (internal bonding strength, modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity) compared to that of the UF-bonded particleboard. However, the performance of particleboard was enhanced with increasing citric acid content. Meanwhile, citric acid-bonded particleboard displayed significantly better fungal and termite resistance than UF-bonded particleboard owing to the acidic nature of citric acid. It can be concluded that citric acid is a suitable green binder for particleboard but some improvement is needed during the particleboard production process.