EFFECT OF EXPANDABLE GRPHIT AS FIRE RETARDANT ON THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MEDIUM-DENSITY FIBERBOARD FROM OIL PALM FIBER CROSS-LINKED WITH PRE-POLYMERIZED POLYURETHANE
Abstract
The prepolymerized polyurethane (pPU) was used as the adhesive matrix in this work to create medium-density fiberboards (MDF) based on oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers (EFB) at a 60:40 ratio. Expandable graphite (EG) was employed as the fire retardant at loading percentages of 0, 10, 20, and 30 weight percent of the matrix's total mass, and the EFB fiber ranged in size from 500 to 700 μm. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and bomb calorimetry were used to assess thermal and fire release energy parameters. In the presence of different loading levels of Expandable Graphite (EG), the thorough thermal experiments showed enhanced thermal behavior of EFB-MDF, which was associated by higher charring density end material and decreased material loss. Increased EG loading levels improved the mechanicals of EFB-MDF, resulting in a steady rise in stiffness, followed by increases in loss, storage modulus, and tan delta values. The glass transition studies (DSC) provide a single phase deterioration of the entire material by demonstrating that EG is uniformly distributed throughout the resin system. As the loading levels increased from 10% to 30%, the deterioration temperature continuously shifted towards a higher value.
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