Eucalyptus wood and coffee parchment for particleboard production: physical and mechanical properties

Abstract

The wood panel industry is constantly growing, being necessary the innovation in technologies and raw materials to improve the quality of the final product. Considering the shortage and pressure to decrease the dependence of wood, there is an interest in other renewable materials such as agricultural wastes. Among these wastes, coffee parchment is one which deserves notoriety. An alternative use for coffee parchment could be for production of particleboard in association with wood particles. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using coffee parchment for production of particleboard. The following percentages of wastes were used: 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% in association to eucalyptus wood. The panels were produced with 8% of urea formaldehyde (based on dry weight of particles). The pressing cycle consisted by: pre-pressing of 0.5 MPa for 10 minutes followed by pressing of 4.0 MPa, and temperature of 160° C for 15 minutes. The compaction ratio of particleboards produced using higher quantities of parchment improved the physical properties. The properties of Water Absorption (2 and 24 h) and Thickness Swelling (2 h) decreased with increasing percentage of coffee parchment. The Thickness Swelling (24 h) showed not significant effect with an increase of coffee waste. The Modulus of Elasticity for coffee parchment particleboards was in the range 646.49 ± 112.65 to 402.03 ± 66.24 MPa, while the Modulus of Rupture ranged from 8.18 ± 1.39 to 4.45 ± 0.75 MPa. The results showed that 10% of coffee parchment could be added for production of particleboards.