Mechanical Properties of Rice Husk Flour-Wood Particleboard by Urea-Formaldehyde Resin

The objective of this research was to investigate the possibility of using rice husk flour as a partial substitute for the wood particles used as the raw material for manufacturing particleboards, by examining the physical and mechanical properties of the rice husk flour-wood particleboard as a function of the type of urea-formaldehyde resin used. Commercial wood particles and two types of rice husk flours (A type (30 ㎛), B type (300 ㎛)) were used. E₁ and E₂ class urea-formaldehyde resin was used as the composite binder, combined with 10 wt.% NH₄Cl solution as a hardener. Rice husk flour-wood particleboards with dimensions of 27×27×0.7 (cm) were manufactured at a specific gravity of 0.7 with rice husk flour contents of 0, 5, 10, and 15 (wt.%). We examined the physical properties (specific gravity and moisture content), mechanical properties (three point bending strength and internal bonding) of the composite. In general, it can be concluded that composites made from rice husk flours are of somewhat poorer quality than those made from wood; however, blending in small amounts of rice husk flour (e.g., 5% to 10% by weight) may have no significant impact on quality.