TY  - EJOU
AU  - Astari, Lilik 
AU  - Belleville, Benoit 
AU  - Umemura, Kenji 
AU  - Filkov, Alex 
AU  - Ozarska, Barbara 
AU  - Crawford, Robert H. 

TI  - Determination of Physical, Mechanical and Fire Retardancy Properties of Innovative Particleboard Made from Corn Stalk (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) Particles
T2  - Journal of Renewable Materials

PY  - 2024
VL  - 12
IS  - 10
SN  - 2164-6341

AB  - The demand for particleboard is increasing along with economic and population growth. However, two major barriers to the manufacture of particleboard are a shortage of raw materials (woodchips) and the emission of formaldehyde from conventional adhesives. Agricultural by-products such as corn stalks contain an abundance of renewable lignocellulosic fiber. This study evaluates the effect of citric acid as a natural adhesive and fire retardant addition on the physical, mechanical, and fire retardancy properties of particleboards fabricated from corn stalks. A cost-effective and inorganic salt, calcium carbonate, was tested to enhance the fire retardancy. Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate was also considered as a comparative control. Particleboards with the addition of calcium carbonate was pretreated with sodium chloride. The particleboards were pressed for 10 min at 200°C. Japanese Industrial Standard JIS A 5908:2022 was used as the benchmark for the physical and mechanical tests. Fire retardancy was dynamically tested by simulating a Bushfire Attack Level of 19 kW/m<sup>2</sup>. The particleboard with 25 wt% citric acid had superior mechanical properties and complied with the JIS A 5908 standard for Type 13 base particleboard. Particleboard with the addition of calcium carbonate (5% and 10%) showed significantly delayed pyrolysis time.
KW  - Particleboard; corn stalk; fire retardancy; citric acid; mechanical properties

DO  - 10.32604/jrm.2024.054786