Measurement of some particleboard properties bonded with modified carboxymethyl starch of oil palm trunk

The properties of an experimental particleboard made from rubberwood using carboxymethyl starch as a binder were evaluated for its mechanical and physical properties. Carboxymethyl starch was prepared by chemically modifying oil palm trunk starch with phosphoryl chloride. The panels produced were based on two target densities of 0.60 g/cm3 and 0.80 g/cm3 and four different types of binders, which were native starch, carboxymethyl starch, carboxymethyl starch mixed with 2% urea formaldehyde and urea formaldehyde as controlled samples. The starch was evaluated using X-ray diffractometry, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer, and differential scanning calorimetry. The specimens with a density of 0.80 g/cm3 made using carboxymethyl starch showed an improvement in term of physical and mechanical strength compared to the panels bonded with native starch. The improvements in the properties of the panels were observed on the panels bonded using mixed binders which successfully achieved the minimum value specified by the standard.