The Manufacture of Particleboards using

Sunflower Stalks (helianthus annuus l.)

And Poplar Wood ( populus alba L.)

IBRAHIM BEKTAS*
Department of Industrial Engineering of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry,
University of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam, Kahramanmaras, Turkey

CENGIZ GULER
Department of Industrial Engineering of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry,
University of Abant Izzet Baysal, Düzce, Turkey

HULYA KALAYCIOĞLU
Department of Industrial Engineering of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry,
Black Sea Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey

FATIH MENGELOGLU and MEHMET NACAR

Department of Industrial Engineering of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry,
University of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam, Kahramanmaras, Turkey

(Received February, 2004)

ABSTRACT: In this study, three-layer particleboards are produced from a mixture

of sunflower stalks (Helianthus annuus L.) and poplar wood (Populus alba L.) at
certain ratios utilizing urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesives. Panels with a density of
0.7 g/cm3 are manufactured with the ratios of 25, 50, and 75 percent particles from
sunflower stalks or poplar. For comparison, panels are solely manufactured with
sunflower stalks and poplar wood.
All panels are tested for physical properties (thickness swelling (TS) and water
absorption (WA)) and mechanical properties (internal bond (IB), modulus of
elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), and screw holding capacity (SHC)).
Results show that all the panels provide properties required by the Turkish standards
for general purpose-use particleboards. Furthermore, properties of the panels have
improved with the rising percentage of poplar particles in the panels.
The combination of sunflower stalks and poplar particles can be used at different
ratios and the resulting panels can be utilized in indoor applications for general
purposes such as furniture manufacturing. This result may prove that sunflower
stalks can be an alternative raw material for the manufacture of particleboards.

KEY WORDS: sunflower stalks, particleboard, physical properties, mechanical

properties.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ibtas@ksu.edu.tr

Journal of COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 39, No. 5/2005 467

0021-9983/05/05 0467–7 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/0021998305047098

2005 Sage Publications
468 I. BEKTAS ET AL.

INTRODUCTION

HE MANUFACTURE OF modern particleboards goes back to early 19th century [1]. It

T had started with the utilization of planner shavings and sawdust and continued with
the use of logs of all kinds. The demand for wood in the forest product industry has grown
over the years with increasing population and new application areas, which caused a
significant pressure on standing forest resources. Moreover, these events stimulated the
price of wood as a raw material. This has generated the necessity for people in the forest
industry and the scientists studying in this field to find alternative biomasses or raw
materials. Therefore, alternative fibers such as agrofibers and other plant fibers, recycling,
more efficient conversion technologies, and new products will play an important role in
the wood fiber supply/demand map of the future [2].
The use of agricultural waste materials (agrofibers) as a raw material in the manufacture
of composites was one of the solutions that came to the minds of many researchers. The
use of these materials may benefit both the environment and socioeconomic development
since these waste materials are mostly ploughed into the soil or burnt in the field [2].
Several studies were conducted to find the suitable agrofibers for composite manufactur-
ing. Some of the agrofibers studied so far are kenaf [3], wheat [4] and cotton straws [5],
sunflower stalks [6–9], tea leaves [10], date palm leaves [11,12], and peanut shell
[13]. According to these studies, with the combination of wood chips, modification
of agrofibers, and the addition of some moisture repellant, it is feasible to produce
particleboard from the wastes of agricultural crops having the physical and mechanical
properties as required by related standards. Several countries utilize agrofibers for the
production of particleboard or other composite panels. So far there are at least 30 plants
that utilize agricultural waste materials in the production of particleboards around
the world.
Turkey also faces the problem of lack of woody raw material since most of its forested
areas are unproductive. However, approximately 700 ha field is being utilized for
sunflower farming in Turkey generating roughly 3–3.5 million tons of waste sunflower
stalks every year [14]. The utilization of such a raw material in combination with other
woody species available in the country could benefit both environmentally and
economically.
So far little research has been focused on the utilization of sunflower stalks in the
manufacture of composites. In the 1970s, a research group in the University of Minnesota
[6,15] studied the use of sunflower stalks and heads in the manufacture of particleboards.
Panels were successfully produced with the use of both urea-formaldehyde and phenol-
formaldehyde adhesives when particles from sunflower stalks and heads mixed with the
aspen particles. In another study, Kalayc|oğlu [16] successfully produced 20 mm three-
layer particleboard utilizing 10% urea-formaldehyde resin on the faces and 8% on the
core. However, the mixture of sunflower stalks and poplar wood in the manufacture of
three-layer particleboard has not been investigated.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of three-
layer particleboards produced from a mixture of poplar wood and sunflower stalks. Such
manufacturing may reduce the pressure on forest stands and provide small solutions to the
waste problem of agricultural wastes in Turkey. These panels could be utilized as isolation
panels, furniture, decorative applications, and packaging since they could be produced in
low densities. It is well known that more than 80% of the particleboard production is
utilized in the furniture and the construction industry [17].
The Manufacture of Particleboards 469

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Furnish Preparation

For the production of a particleboard, sunflower stalks (Helianthus annuus L.) and
poplar wood (Populus alba L.) were used as raw materials. Sunflower stalks and poplar
wood were first chipped using a Robert Hildebrand hammermill to produce coarse
particles and then into smaller particles, fit for particleboard manufacture, using a Condux
hammermill.
Classification of the particles was performed using a horizontal screen shaker with four
steps (Allgemaier, Germany). Particles left behind on 3-mm sieve were sent back to the
Condux hammermill. The particles that remain on the 1.5-mm sieve were used in
the middle-layer of the particleboards while particles on the 0.8-mm sieve were used for
the surface layer of the panels.
The particles were then dried to a target 3% moisture content (MC) in an oven set to
100
5 C. In this study, urea-formaldehyde (UF) was used as a binder and its properties
are presented in Table 1. The target adhesive levels were 9% for coarse furnish and 11%
for surface furnish (based on the oven-dry weight of particles). One percent ammonium
chloride (NH4CI) was used as the catalyst. The particles were placed in a drum blender
and sprayed with UF and NH4Cl for 5 min to achieve a homogeneous distribution of
adhesives on them.
According to the panel type the experimental design of the study is presented in Table 2:
First, the particles produced from the sunflower stalks and particles from the poplar wood
were mixed for the core and surface layer of the panels separately. Then, particle mats
(56  56 cm2) were made manually in a deckle box with approximately 100 cm of free fall.
In this study, 35% of the panel design is the surface layer and 65% is the core layer.
Finally, the boards were pressed (24.5–26.5 kg/cm2) to 20-mm stops at 150 C for 7 min.
After pressing, the boards were edge-trimmed to 55  55 cm2 and conditioned at 20
2 C
and 65
5% relative humidity (RH) with a moisture content of 12%.

Table 1. The properties of urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive.

Properties Unit Value Properties Unit Value
Solid content % 55
1 Free formaldehyde (max.) % 0.7
Density (25 C) g/cm3 1.22–1.24 Gel time (100 C) s 25–30
Viscosity (25 C) Cps 100–200 Shelf time (25 C) day 90
Flowing time (25 C) S 20–40 pH (25 C) – 7.5–7.8

Table 2. The experimental design.

Percentages of raw materials (%)

Board type Sunflower stalks Poplar wood

S0P100 0 100
S25P75 25 75
S50P50 50 50
S75P25 75 25
S100 P0 100 0
470 I. BEKTAS ET AL.

The determination of 2- and 24-h water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS)
tests were performed according to ASTM D-1037. While the modulus of rupture (MOR)
and modulus of elasticity (MOE) values were evaluated according to TS-EN (Turkish
standard-enlarged) 310, internal bond (IB) strength and screw holding capacity of the
panels were determined according to TS-EN 319 and BS 1811 standards, respectively. The
entire mechanical property determination tests were performed on a universal tester
(Instron). The average of 10 measurements was recorded. Furthermore, all the data were
statistically analyzed by using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s mean
separation test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 3 indicates the results of ANOVA and Tukey’s mean separation test for the
mechanical properties of particleboards produced in this study. The modulus of rupture
(MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the panels were tested according to TS-EN
(Turkish standard-enlarged) 310. It is well known that MOR of the panels greatly affects
the application area of the panels and is closely related to the density of the panel and the
amount of resin being used. For general purpose particleboards TS-EN 312-2 (1999)
standard requires the minimum MOR of 11.5 N/mm2. The highest MOR values of
25.30 N/mm2 were observed when only poplar wood was utilized in the manufacture of the
particleboard (S0P100). On the other hand, the lowest MOR values of 14.65 N/mm2 were
obtained in the particleboards produced solely with sunflower stalks (S100P0). It can be
easily seen from Table 3 that MOR values of particleboards were reduced with the increase
of sunflower concentration in the panel matrix. However, all the panels produced in this
study provided MOR values (19–22 N/mm2) exceeding the TS-EN 312-2 (1999) standards
and also similar to the results reported by or other researchers [16–18].
The highest MOE values of 2963.3 N/mm2 were observed when only poplar wood was
utilized in the manufacture of the particleboard (S0P100) while the lowest MOE values of
1800.2 N/mm2 were obtained in the particleboards produced with only sunflower stalks
(S100P0). Similar to the MOR results, MOE values of particleboards were reduced with
the increase of sunflower concentration in the panel matrix. However, all the panels met
the requirement of TS-EN 312-3 (1999) of 1600 N/mm2 for general purpose particle-
boards. The required MOE values for general purpose particleboard were also reported as
2.300–3.200 N/mm2 in the literature [19].

Table 3. The results of the mechanical properties of the particleboard.

Screw holding strength (kg)

Modulus of rupture Modulus of elasticity Internal bond strength Parallel to Perpendicular to

(MOR) (N/mm2) (MOE) (N/mm2) (IB) (N/mm2) the surface the surface
25.30 Aa (0.89)b 2963.3 A (241.6) 0.69 A (0.028) 83.47 A (6.25) 116.40 A (7.34)
22.96 B (1.29) 2511.6 ABC (260.55) 0.47 C (0.012) 69.76 B (3.20) 101.04 BC (3.90)
22.03 B (1.23) 2681.2 AB (205.0) 0.51 CB (0.011) 66.22 B (2.13) 102.15 B (2.71)
19.53 CB (1.53) 2440.2 ABC (187.5) 0.53 CB (0.032) 63.51 BC (2.35) 97.10 BC (2.25)
15.65 D (1.04) 1800.2 C (276.1) 0.46 C (0.042) 53.92 C (3.62) 82.55 D (3.93)
a
Values followed by the same capital letter are not significantly different ( p ¼ 0.05).
b
Values in parentheses are the standard deviations.
The Manufacture of Particleboards 471

In the case of internal bond (IB), similar to the other mechanical properties, panels
produced from poplar wood generated the highest IB values of 0.69 N/mm2 while panels
produced from sunflower stalks had the lowest IB values of 0.46 N/mm2. Even though the
IB of the panels were reduced with the increase of the sunflower stalks concentration in the
panel matrix, all the panels still met the requirements of 0.35 N/mm2 in TS-EN 312-3
(1999) standards.
The screw holding capacity (SHC) of the particleboard also plays a key role in
the application areas of the board. According to the BS 1811 standards, the SHC
was determined both parallel and perpendicular to the surface. Panels produced
with 100% sunflower stalks provided SHC parallel to the surface and perpendicular
to the surface values of 53.9 and 82.6 kg, respectively. Panels produced with 100%
poplar wood provided SHC parallel to the surface and perpendicular to the surface
values of 83.5 and 116.4 kg, respectively. Even though the SHC of the panels
were reduced with the increase of the sunflower stalks concentration in the panel
matrix, all the panels still met the requirements of BS 2604 (1970) standards, that a
particleboard 18 mm thick should have SHC of 36 kg parallel to the surface of the
panel and at least 100–125% higher when the samples were tested perpendicular to the
surface [20].
Table 4 represents the results of ANOVA and Tukey’s mean seperation test for the
water absorption (WA) and the thickness swelling (TS) of particleboards produced in this
study. The lowest WA and TS values, 52% and 17%, respectively, were observed when
only poplar wood was utilized in the manufacture of the particleboard (S0P100). On the
other hand, the highest WA and TS values of 82% and 25%, respectively, were obtained in
the particleboards produced only with sunflower stalks (S100P0). It can be easily seen from
Table 4 that both the WA and TS of particleboards were increased with the rise of
sunflower concentration in the panel matrix.
The TS of all the boards was higher than the requirements of 14% for 24 h in TS-EN
312-3 (1999) standards. Similar results for particleboards produced from agrofibers were
observed by other scientists. Kozlowski and Piotrowski [21] reported the TS values of 20%
and 25% for particleboards produced from flax and hemp, respectively. In another study,
Kalayc|oğlu [16] reported that boards produced from tobacco straws and tea plant wastes
had 2 h WA amount of 37 and 48%, respectively. For 24-h WA test, values were 60 and
71%, respectively. In the case of TS, values for 2-h test were 17 and 29% for tobacco
straws and tea plant waste boards, respectively. For 24-h TS test, values were 22 and 27%,
respectively. Similarly high TS and WA results were also reported by Bektas et al. [9] for

Table 4. The results of water absorption and thickness swelling of the particleboard.
Water absorption (%) Thickness swelling (%)

Board types n 2-h 24-h 2-h 24-h

a b
S0P100 30 42.54 A (1.59) 52.73 A (2.27) 12.20 A (0.32) 17.995 A (0.18)
S25P75 30 55.59 B (1.61) 75.11 B (1.86) 15.79 B (0.28) 21.96 B (0.32)
S50P50 30 53.52 B (1.36) 74.23 B (1.34) 16.53 B (0.38) 24.46 BC (0.36)
S75P25 30 51.62 B (2.29) 72.58 B (2.25) 15.11 B (0.51) 21.36 B (0.54)
S100 P0 30 65.40 C (2.11) 82.22 C (1.85) 19.15 C (0.64) 25.05 C (0.56)
a
values followed by the same capital letter are not significantly different ( p ¼ 0.05).
b
values in parentheses are the standard deviations.
n denotes sample size.
472 I. BEKTAS ET AL.

particleboards produced from sunflower stalks and pine wood, and Guler [22] for
particleboards produced from cotton carpel.

CONCLUSIONS

This study investigates the possibility of utilizing particles from sunflower stalks and
poplar wood in the manufacture of three-layer particleboard. For this purpose, the
mixture of particles produced from sunflower stalks and poplar wood at certain
concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) have been used. Five types of panels are produced
(100% sunflower stalks, 25% poplar wood and 75% sunflower stalks, 50% poplar wood
and 50% sunflower stalks, 75% poplar wood and 25% sunflower stalks and finally 100%
poplar wood) and their mechanical and physical properties are evaluated.
The results indicate that it is possible to produce particleboards from the chips of
sunflower stalks alone by using urea-formaldehyde adhesives. Even though increase in the
concentration of sunflower stalk particles in composite matrix reduces both the physical
and mechanical properties of the particleboard, almost all the studied properties (that is,
modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, intermal bond, and screw holding strength) of
the produced panels comply with the minimum requirements in standards for general
grade particleboards with the exception of thickness swelling and water absorption. As
there are no hydrophobic additives used in these panels, these properties can be improved
by the utilization of hydrophobic materials in the matrix.
This study shows that sunflower stalks can be utilized as a raw material in particleboard
manufacturing by itself or in combination with poplar wood. Finding this type of a new
application area for sunflower stalks might have the potential of reducing the pressure on
the forest resources as well as providing additional income to the farmers in Turkey.

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