National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology (ICAR) 12, Regent Park, Kolkata-700 040, India.
Particle Board is a good substitute for costly wood/plywood boards. Particle board can be developed from Date-Palm Leaves (DPL), the annually renewable agro waste. DPL have higher ultimate fibre length (1.25 -250 mm) and a-cellulose content (about 60%) than hard wood/plywood and jute stick. Work of adhesion (contact angle) values between DPL and polymer binder (synthetic and natural) is very good. The impact strength of DPL Board is much higher than wood/plywood and jute stick (J.S.) particle board. The moisture content and swelling % in water of Date Palm Leaf Particle Board are 6.8 and 5.4 respectively. During development of DPL particle board, 1.5% water repellent chemical was used to confer DPL board water proof. Based on these pertinent findings, we have successfully developed and manufacture DPL particle boards (size 2’ x 2’ x 1/2”). The tentative cost of DPL particle board is about 20% of the cost of wood/plywood boards.
