The Influence of Starch in Oil Palm Trunk Particleboard without Synthetic Adhesive

Oil palm trunk particleboard without synthetic adhesive has been introduced as one of the potential green technology products as an alternative to the synthetic resin bonded particleboard. The chemical constituents of the lignocellulosic materials are important in allowing particles to achieve self bonding. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of starch content on the physical and mechanical properties, as well as some biodegradation activities including termite decay and soil burial decay of the particleboard without synthetic adhesive. Internal bonding strength, modulus of rupture, thickness swelling, and soil burial were performed according to British Standard and European Standard. The termite decay on specimen was evaluated with Microtermes gilvus. Addition of starch into specimens resulted in adverse effect on thickness swelling but improved mechanical properties of the samples. However, removing starch containing in particles showed insignificant effect on mechanical properties of the specimens. Weight loss of specimens exposed to termites was not affected by starch content statistically. However, soil buried test samples had significant weight loss.