Chemical Modification of Oil Palm Particles as Raw Material for Particleboard Making: Effect of Pressing Temperature

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pressing temperature on chemical modification of oil palm particles as raw material for particleboard manufacturing. The aim of this study is to evaluate the properties of particleboard made from chemically modified oil palm biomass and to determine the effect of pressing temperature on the properties of the particleboard. Oil palm was used in this study due to the problem arose where abundance of oil palm were left at the site to be rotten when undergo replanting process. Therefore, this research was conducted in which to use the abundant of oil palm trunk to fulfill the need of wood-based panel in Malaysia. Samples of oil palm trunk were collected and grind into smaller particle before treated with glutaridialdehyde solution. The treated oil palm particle then inserted into the mould with dimension of 21 cm x 21 cm x 0.5 cm to get uniform size of particleboard before undergo the process of hot pressing. The temperature was set at 130°C, 140°C and 150°C for 10 minutes under pressure of 500kgcm'2 by using hot pressing machine. Physical (density, moisture content, water absorption and thickness swelling test) and mechanical (bending test) strength of the manufactured particleboard were test afterwards. Result showed that particleboard manufactured using 150°C temperature with 0.50. g/cm3 density has the lowest percentage of thickness swelling which is 11.74% while the water absorption is 126.73%. Bending test for the manufactured particleboard using 150°C has highest reading of modulus of rupture (MOR) with 3.90 N/mm2 and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 626.04 N/mm2. From this study, it was discovered that higher temperature use to manufacture particleboard produce better result in mechanical and physical strength compared to lower temperature. Results of this study also suggest that the manufactured particleboard is suitable for decoration propose by the society.