Effect of Rice Straw Steaming Time and Mixing Ratio between Acacia mangium Willd Wood and Steamed Rice Straw on the Properties of the Mixed Particleboard

This study examined the effects of rice straw steaming time and mixing ratio between rice straw and wood particle on the properties of mixed particle board from Acacia mangium Willd wood and rice straw. Rice straw and Acacia mangium Willd wood were collected in Hanoi, Vietnam. The particle board was three-layer particle board with the structural ratio of 1:3:1. The thickness, density and board size of the particle board were 18 mm, $0.7g/cm^3$, and $800{\times}800{\times}18$ (mm, including trimming), respectively. A resin mixture between commercial Urea-formaldehyde (U-F) adhesive and methylene diphenyl isocyanate (MDI) adhesive was used with a dosage of 12% for the core layer and 14% for the surface layer. In this experimental design, the steaming time for rice straw was 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75 minutes at $100^{\circ}C$. The rice straw-wood mixing ratio was 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%. The results showed that both mixing ratio and steaming time affect the properties of the particleboard, but the mixing ratio has a stronger impact. A higher mixing ratio and a longer steaming time resulted in a better quality of particleboard. The optimal steaming time for rice straw was 46.12 minutes with the straw-wood mixing ratio of 29.85% with the following characteristics of the particle board: the modulus of rupture (MOR) of 14.64 MPa, internal bond strength (IB) of 0.382 MPa, thickness swelling (TS) of 8.83%, and board density of $0.7-0.7g/cm^3$.