Abstract
For finding both ways of recycling the wood and plastic wastes and solving the problem of free formaldehyde gas emission through manufacturing wood particle-polypropylene fiber composite board without addition of formaldehyde-based thermosetting resin adhesive, control particleboards and nonwoven web composite boards from wood particle and polypropylene fiber formulation of 50 : 50, 60 : 40, and 70 : 30 were manufactured at density levels of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 g/$cm^3$, and were tested both in the physical and mechanical properties according to ASTM D 1037-93. In the physical properties, control particleboard had significantly higher moisture content than composite board. In composite board, moisture content decreased with the increase of target density only in the board with higher content of polypropylene fiber and also appeared to increase with the increase of wood particle content at a given target density. Control particleboard showed significantly greater water absorption than composite board and its water absorption decreased with the increase of target density. In composite board, water absorption decreased with the increase of target density at a given formulation but increased with the increase of wood particle content at a given target density. After 2 and 24 hours immersion, control particleboard was significantly higher in thickness swelling than composite board and its thickness swelling increased with the increase of target density. In composite board, thickness swelling did not vary significantly with the target density at a given formulation but its thickness swelling increased as wood particle content increased at a given target density. Static bending MOR and MOE under dry and wet conditions increased with the increase of target density at a given formulation of wood particle and polypropylene fiber. Especially, the MOR and MOE under wet condition were considerably larger in composite board than in control particleboard. In general, composite board showed superior bending strength properties to control particleboard, And the composite board made from wood particle and polypropylene fiber formulation of 50 : 50 at target density of 0.8 g/$cm^3$ exhibited the greatest bending strength properties. Though problems in uniform mixing and strong binding of wood particle with polypropylene fiber are unavoidable due to their extremely different shape and polarity, wood particle-polypropylene fiber composite boards with higher performance, as a potential substitute for the commercial particleboards, could be made just by controlling processing variables.