Development of straw particleboard using citric acid as bio-based adhesive
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22320/s0718221x/2026.23Keywords:
Agricultural residues, bio-based adhesive, citric acid, particleboard, wheat straw lignocellulosic materialsAbstract
The intensive utilization of agricultural residues, particularly wheat straw (WS), in particleboard production as an environmentally sustainable alternative to wood-based panels remains limited due to their poor bonding performance with conventional adhesives. Citric acid (CA) has recently gained increasing attention as a bio-based adhesive and appears to be a promising solution to overcome the bonding challenges associated with wheat straw However, there is limited information available on the combined effects of the moisture content (MC) of the mat and the adhesive dosage on the behavior of WS particleboard bonded with citric acid. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the optimal moisture content (MC) and the optimal CA content required to achieve satisfactory physical and mechanical properties without pretreating the straw particles. To this end, the resinized straw particles were oven-dried at different times intervals (2 h to 14 h) and temperatures (80 °C and 100 °C) to obtain mat with various moisture content (0,5 % - 20 %). The effects of adhesive content of 15 %, 20 %, 25 %, and 30 % (based on the dry mass of the straw) on the properties of the panels were also studied. The optimum moisture content of the mat before hot pressing was about 11%, and the corresponding panel exhibited flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and internal bond of about 12 MPa, 3700 MPa and 0,26 MPa, respectively, while the thickness swelling and water absorption after 24-hour immersion were 6,5% and 46 %, respectively. Increasing the adhesive content from 15 % to 30 % led to an increase in flexural strength from 9 MPa to 13 MPa and 117% in internal bond. However, a further increase in the adhesive content above 20 % did not lead to any statistically significant differences in the physical properties. In general, the results showed that due to the acidic nature of citric acid, it is possible to produce particleboard from wheat straw without pretreating the straw particles before use.
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