The Physical, Mechanical and Durability Properties of Sorghum Bagasse Particleboard by Layering Surface Treatment

The decrease of wood supply leads to find out the alternative raw material for particleboard production derived from non-woody cellulose materials, one of the promising material is sorghum bagasse. However, the strength properties of particleboard manufactured from this biomass tend to be low. This research was to evaluate physical, mechanical and durability properties of sorghum bagasse-particleboard (SBP) which was layered by several materials. Previously, sorghum bagasse as particle board core and materials for layers such as woven of bamboo bark, woven of barkless bamboo, bamboo strand, Meranti and Eucalyptus veneer were oven dried at 103 C to reach 4% moisture content with 10% Urea formaldehyde resin. After particle and adhesive blending step, furnish was used as core with layer materials as surface. Subsequently, mat was pressed at 130 C for 10 min with 30 kg cm-2. Physical and mechanical properties evaluation refers to JIS A 5908-2003, while their durability properties were evaluated by grave yard test. The results showed that surface layer treatment improved the bending properties presented by increasing of modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity value of surface layer treatment of SBP compared to untreated ones. However, their thickness swelling has not been met standard of JIS A 5908-2003 yet. Furthermore, surface layer treatment with woven of barkless bamboo showed the best physical, mechanical, and durability properties. Journal of the Indian Academy of Wood Science. Hal. 1-8