Evaluating the Properties of Medium-density Fiberboard Made with a Rapeseed Flour-based Adhesive Resin and Establish of the Optimal Fabricating Conditions for its Commercialization

This study was conducted to confirm the potential of adhesive resins formulated with rapeseed flour (RSF), which is a residue in the production of edible oil, for the manufacture of medium-density fiberboards (MDF). The RSF-based adhesive resins were formulated with the weight ratio of RSF hydrolyzates (80, 70, 60 wt%) to PF prepolymer(20, 30, 40 wt%), MDF was fabricated in accordance with its resin content and target density using the RSF-based adhesive resin, and then the physical properties(density, moisture content, bending strength, internal bonding strength and thickness swelling) and formaldehyde emission of the MDF were measured. The effect of the weight ratio of RSF hydrolyzate to PF prepolymer was the greatest, followed by that of target density and resin content. The values of MDF fabricated with RSF-based adhesive resins exceeded those with urea-formaldehyde resins, which is mostly used as a resin in the manufacture of MDF. Based on the results of MDF per experimental factors, the optimal conditions were determined to target density of 0.7 g/cm(3), resin content of 5% and PF-prepolymer weight ratio of 40 wt% in RSF-based adhesive resin, and physical properties and formaldehyde emission of the MDF fabricated with the conditions satisfied the requirements for MDF and E-0 grade, which was designated by National Institute of Forest Science, except for thickness swelling. In conclusion, the potential of RSF-based adhesive for the production of MDF could identify on the basis of the results of this study. However, the stable securement of RSF through the development of bio-refinery process for rape plant is required to commercialize RSF-based adhesive resins for MDF production.