Abstract
A long standing problem in the manufacture of wheat-straw based composites with cost-effective formaldehyde-based resins is their poor water resistance as demonstrated by their large water thickness swell. In this study, wheat straw based medium density fiberboards were manufactured using 3 resin/wax systems: a melamine-urea-formalde-hyde resin with either low or high wax content, and a phenol-formal-dehyde resin with low wax content. The flexural properties, internal bond strength, and thickness swell of the resulting composites were evaluated and compared according to ASTM methods. The three MDF compos-ites passed the requirements for MDF in interior application, except for the MDF manufactured with the aminoplastic resin and low wax content that failed to provide acceptable thickness swell. Using the phenolic resin in combination with low wax content resulted in a higher grade MDF composite, grade 120, than with the aminoplastic and high wax content. This study demonstrates that wheat straw based MDF manu-factured with cost-effective aminoplastic and phenolic resins can have flexural properties, internal bond strength and thickness swell perfor-mance above the requirements from the American National Standards Institute.Download PDF