The effects of resin content variation on the physical and mechanical properties of coffee husks/tannin particleboards

Abstract

Particleboard industries have been heavily relying on woods' existence and the synthetic resins such as urea formaldehyde (UF), phenol formaldehyde (PF) and melamine for their survival and existence. While in use, these synthetic resins emit formaldehyde, which is harmful to human health. In addition, their resources have been depleted making them scarce and expensive. Research developments have revealed that it is possible to produce particleboards using natural resins such as cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), hydrolyzed tannin etc as the binders. In this research, two particleboards of different densities were made from coffee husks as the reinforcement and varied resin content of hydrolyzed tannin from 4-16% of the dry weight of the particles. Results indicated that both mechanical and physical properties were improved as the resin content was increased. This was found to be in agreement with what other researchers have done.


(Journal of Civil Engineering, JKUAT: 2002 7: 55-66)