Manufacture of non-resin wheat straw fibreboards

Wheat straw was used as raw material in the production of fibreboards. The size-reduced straw was pretreated with steam, hot water and sulphuric acid before the defibration process to loosen its physical structure and reduce the pH. No synthetic binder was added. Adhesive bonding between fibres was initiated by activation of the fibre surfaces by an oxidative treatment during the defibration process. Fenton’s reagent (ferrous chloride and hydrogen peroxide) was added. Two different levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 2.5% or 4.0% were used. The resulting fibres were characterized in terms of fibre length distribution, shive content, pH and pH-buffering capacity. The properties of finished fibreboards were compared with medium-density fibreboard (MDF) with density above 800 kg/m3 produced from straw and melamine modified UF resin. The modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and internal bond (IB) were lower than those of conventional manufactured wheat straw fibreboards but close to the requirements of the MDF standard (EN 622-5: 2006). The water absorption properties for the H2O2 activated straw fibreboards were relatively high, but were reduced by 25% with the addition of CaCl2 into the defibrator system as a water-repelling agent. Increased levels of hydrogen peroxide improved the mechanical and physical properties of the straw fibreboard.