Reinforcement of fiberboard containing lingo-cellulose nanofiber made from wood fibers

Abstract

Wood-based materials are fabricated with adhesives composed of various materials derived from fossil fuels. It is difficult to identify replacements for these chemical adhesives. This study explored nanofiber technologies as an alternative to these adhesives. In this study, we focused on reinforcement effects of lingo-cellulose nanofiber (LCNF) on fiberboards made from softwood and hardwood fiber. We discuss the density effects of reinforcement with LCNF because the density of medium-density fiberboard (MDF), which is widely used for construction, is standardized at about 0.60–0.80 g/cm3. Fiberboards were manufactured with three densities (0.60, 0.75, and 1.00 g/cm3). For softwood fiberboards, the bending properties for LCNF-mixed boards were higher than those for the control fiberboards at all densities. In this paper, control fiberboard means fiberboard with fiber only. For hardwood fiberboards, the bending properties for LCNF-mixed fiberboard for 1.00 g/cm3-density board were higher than those for the control fiberboard. For internal bond strength (IB), the IB for LCNF-mixed fiberboard was higher than that for the control fiberboard. The thickness swelling (TS) and weight change (WC) with water absorption for fiberboards containing LCNF were lower than those for control fiberboards. As a conclusion, physical and mechanical properties of the resulting fiberboards were significantly improved with the addition of LCNF, especially for softwood fiberboards, due to close binding between LCNF and wood fibers.