Utilization of local gum Arabic as an adhesive for the production of particle board from maize cobs and coconut shells

Abstract

The increase in the cost of building and furniture materials like particle board, ceiling and roofing sheets in Nigeria worsens by the day. The development of an alternative to curb this menace using agricultural waste such as maize cobs and coconut shells are required. In this study, maize cob, coconut shell and gum Arabic as adhesive were used in the development of particle board. The particle board was produced by mixing maize cob and coconut shell in different proportion. The physical and mechanical properties of the particle board such as density, water absorption, impact strength. compressive and tensile tests  were investigated. The density ranged from 518.6 -843.3 Kg/m3, water absorption was between 11.05 and 70.2% by varying time of immersion at 30min, 1hr and 2hr. The compressive strength, tensile strength and impact strength fell within the range of 15.9 - 20.15MPa, 18 - 62KPa and 175 - 274.06KJ/m2 respectively. The results showed that the maize cob, coconut shell and gum Arabic are good candidates for building and furniture applications