Abstract:
he demand for particleboard has been increasing over the years. Currently,
most particleboards are produced from wood which may not be sustainable in the long
term. Therefore, there is need of exploring alternative materials such as making parti-
cleboards from waste materials. This study investigated the mechanical properties of
particleboard consisting of waste leather shavings and waste papers blended together by
unsaturated polyester. A single-layered particleboards were manufactured using com-
pression method. Different resin contents (60%, 70%, 80%, and 90%) and leather/paper
ratios (100:0, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25) were used to determine the effects on the mechanical
properties (internal bond, bending strength, compression, and impact strength) of fabri-
cated boards. From the results of this study, it was found that leather shavings and waste
papers can be used as alternative raw materials for particleboard production and that
mechanical properties were depended on the resin content and the blend ratio. Also,
mechanical properties were reduced with resin content increment, except for impact
strength, and improved by high paper blend ratio. It could be concluded that the
produced particle panels could be used for indoor application or interior equipping.
Additionally, it is recommended that further studies can be done on morphological
analysis to establish the bonding between the particles and matrix.