Ritsuo Iwata

Improvement of fiberboard made from acetylated fibers by ozonation I: effect of ozonation on mechanical properties

Acetylated fibers with a 24.8% weight gain by acetylation were ozonated with 0%–2.0% ozone on fibers. Fiberboards were then made from these treated fibers. The internal bond and bending strength of the acetylated fiberboards increased drastically with increasing ozone charge up to 0.5%–1.0%, whereas the thickness swelling of the fiberboards decreased. Ozone selectively cleaves the aromatic rings of hydrophobic lignin and introduces a hydrophilic carboxyl group into lignin. Thus, the wettability and thermoplasticity of acetylated fibers increased, and this structural modification improved the interfiber contact. Internal bond and bending strength increased as a result. In addition, steep density profiles were formed by the ozonation, resulting in high bending strength. The high compaction ratio accelerated the effect of ozonation. The optimum ozone charges for improving mechanical properties were 0.5%–1.0%.

Effects of press closing time on mat consolidation behavior during hot pressing and on linear expansion of particleboard

Mat consolidation behavior was investigated at various press closing times (PCTs) using hinoki (Japanese cypress) particle mats. The temperature in the core layer of the mat, press pressure, and platen distance were measured. At the plateau stage during hot pressing, the core temperature decreased with increasing PCT. The core temperature did not increase before the platen distance equaled the target board thickness in the PCT range of 4–50 s and rose slightly when the PCT exceeded 100s. There was a linear relation between the logarithm of PCT and the maximum press pressure. The density profile across board thickness was strongly affected by the PCT. As the PCT increased, the position of the peak density (PD) moved toward the core layer as the PD itself decreased. The effect of PCT on the linear expansion (LE) of the board is discussed in relation to the density profile. There was no difference in LE after high relative humidity treatment in the PCT range 4–50s. LE appeared to be related to the low density and the precured region of the board surface. The LE after drying treatment was around −0.1%, and the thickness swelling after high relative humidity and drying treatments increased with increasing PCT.