Effects of resin and moisture content on the properties of medium density fibreboards made from kenaf bast fibres

• Kenaf bast fibres can be used as an alternative to wood fibres for manufacturing MDF panels.
• The effect of change in resin type, resin content and moisture content is evaluated.
• Panels made with 12% melamine formaldehyde resin and 12% moisture content resulted best properties.
• The kenaf panels met the minimum standard requirement for mechanical and hygroscopic properties.

The effects of different factors including resin type, resin content and moisture content on the physicomechanical properties of medium density fibreboard (MDF) panels made from kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) bast fibres are investigated. The Taguchi method of experimental design is employed to determine the effects of the factors and to find the levels of factors that result in desirable properties. Three different commercial resins namely, urea formaldehyde (UF), phenol formaldehyde (PF) and melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) are used in the manufacturing of kenaf MDF panels. The panels are produced with a target thickness of 9 mm and density of 700 kg/m3. The results indicate that resin type and moisture content have significant influence on the mechanical properties while resin content is the least significant. On the other hand, for physical properties resin content and moisture content have much lesser influence as compared to resin type. This initial study reveals that kenaf panels produced with MUF resin at higher resin loading and intermediate level of moisture content, show elevated properties in accordance with wood based MDF standard ANSI A208.2-2009 for Grades 130 and 155.