Author(s) :

SAFIYANU Ishaq Muhammad, Aaron Aboshio, Mustapha Garba Jamaa.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

The potential of using mahogany leaves particles for the production of gum Arabic bonded particleboards is reported in this paper. Fresh mahogany leaves, air-dried to a target moisture content of 10% were crushed to an average particle size of 2mm. Mix ratios of 2:1, 2.5:1, 3:1, and 3.5:1 of gum Arabic to the crushed mahogany leaves by weight of the mahogany leaves were produced respectively. Twenty four (24) particleboards of sizes 200mm length, 50mm width, and 6mm thick were produced. The boards were cured for 28 days in an acclimatized room, after which tests on moisture content (MC), water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) were carried out in accordance with the ASTM D1037-93 procedures. Results of the tests indicated that the moisture content of the boards with mean and standard deviation values of 7.95% and 0.24% at the time of conducting the test was below the maximum of 10% specified by ANSI/A208.1-1999 standard. Particleboards produced using gum-Arabic-mahogany leaves ratio of 3.5:1 gave the best results in terms of the lowest mean values of water absorption (29.39%) and thickness swelling (23.8%) after four (4) hours of immersion in distilled water. The particleboards produced met the standard for general-purpose boards except for water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) characteristics which were above the maximum of 8% and 3% specified by ANSI/A208.1-1999. Keywords: Particleboard, mahogany leaves, gum Arabic, water absorption, thickness swelling

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