Microstructural, mechanical and physical properties of post heat-treated melamine-fortified urea formaldehyde-bonded particleboard

This study aims at evaluating the effects of heat treatment on microstructural, mechanical and physical properties of experimentally manufactured particleboard from rubberwood. Two types of heating methods, namely oven and hot press, were used in this study. Samples of the particleboard were heat-treated at six levels of temperature (100, 120, 140, 160, 180 and 200 °C) for a heating time of 10 min. Meanwhile, controlled boards were kept untreated for comparison purposes. After the treatment, the samples showed improvement in dimensional stability as the wettability and equilibrium moisture content of the treated samples decreased. No significant reduction in the mechanical properties was observed. Anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) of 35 % was obtained when heating the samples at 200 °C using the hot press method. An ASE of 12 % was observed when the samples were heated in an oven at the same temperature. Deformation and collapse of cell walls and lumens were observed when the samples were treated at 200 °C. From the results, substantial improvement was obtained in terms of dimensional stability accompanied by a minor decrease in the strength of the samples.