Improving the mechanical and physical properties of particleboard produced from bamboo- industrial wood using polypropylene powder

Decreasing of wooden raw material for industries has led to the development of non-wooden lignocellulosic resources such as fast-growing bamboo. In comparison with wooden species these non-wooden species are different, anatomically and chemically and their application mainly causes low quality composites. In this research different amount of industrial wood particles are replaced with bamboo particles (10, 20 and 30 percent). In order to improve the negative effects of presence of bamboo particles in the composites the polypropylene powder were used in two levels (5 and 10 percent). Different combinations of the aforementioned raw materials were manufactured in a hot press after being sprayed with UF resin. The physical and mechanical properties were evaluated according to European standards set of EN. Results showed that the maximum of MOR and MOE were found in the combination of 10 percent polypropylene and 20 percent bamboo. In addition, the increase in the amount of bamboo (30 percent) resulted in decrease in MOR and MOE. Increasing of bamboo has a negative effect on water absorption and thickness swelling after 2 and 24 hours but increasing of polypropylene from 5 to 10 percent had a positive effect on these factors. According to the results the composites manufactured of 20 percent of bamboo and 10 percent of polypropylene can meet the requirement of particleboards for carpentry to be used in dry conditions.