Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00905-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Durability and strength properties of particle boards from polystyrene–wood wastes Banjo Ayobami Akinyemi 1  · Clinton Emeka Okonkwo 1  · Elijah Aina Alhassan 1  · Mosunmola Ajiboye 1 Received: 2 December 2018 / Accepted: 8 August 2019 © Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract This paper presents the results of experimental study on the production of particle boards from wastes of wood and expanded polystyrene foam (EPS). Two diferent particle sizes of wood wastes and two diferent dosages of EPS resin were used as binders in the boards (WPP). Modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and physical properties were ana- lysed. Efects of long-term immersion in water for 7–28 days on the properties of the particleboards were similarly evaluated. SEM and FTIR were used to analyse the specimens. The results showed that water absorption decreased as EPS content was increased from 1.5 to 2.0 and thickness swelling indicated that WPP with 0.85 mm particle sizes and 1.5 resin dosages had the least value between 2.38 and 3.51% after 7–28 days of prolonged immersion in water. MOR and MOE indicated that the optimum performances of the WPP boards were recorded before the prolonged immersion in water at 4.3 MPa and 187.8 MPa. WPP with 0.85 and 1.75 mm particle sizes with 2.0 resin dosage had good post immersion performance. This study demonstrated that wood and EPS wastes are sustainable materials for producing composite wood based panels that are still durable in moist environment. Keywords Wood · Polystyrene · Waste · Moisture · Strength · Performance Introduction A lot of agricultural wastes are generated most especially from developing nations where a sizeable portion of the population are into various agricultural activities. Pres- ently, non-wood wastes from agrarian sector account for 43% and the majority could be found in the fbrous agro wastes such as bagasse, maize straw, rice straw, sorghum straw, beniseed straw, coconut husk fbres and millet straw [1, 2]. About 1.8 million tons of sawdust annually and 5.2 million tons of wood wastes are generated by Nige- ria. This has been dealt with through open burning prac- tices, dumping in water bodies or dumping in an open area which poses grave health challenges and environmental pollution to humans [3]. However, these agro wastes have found useful applications in diferent building materials in some studies; these include sorghum waste [4], corn cob [ 5], rice straw [ 6], wheat straw [ 7], coir fbres [ 8] and bagasse [ 9, 10]. Particleboards are produced from chosen particles which are bonded together with a ther- mosetting binder. Such binders are mostly formaldehyde based and are usually synthesised from petrochemical raw materials. Such binders include urea formaldehyde (UF), phenol formaldehyde, phenol-resorcinol formal- dehyde and melamine-formaldehyde [11–13]. Formalde- hyde potentially cause a variety of symptoms and adverse health efects and a long-term exposure to high levels of formaldehyde has been associated with cancer [14, 15]. To mitigate and reduce this problem, various approaches had been considered to either completely eliminate it or reduce its quantity in particle board production. Among such profered solution, the use of expanded polystyrene waste has been exploited by some researchers as a binder. Wood plastic composite boards are therefore developed when wood fbres are used as reinforcement and blended with either thermoset or thermoplast polymer as binders [ 16]. Masri et al. [ 17] successfully produced particle- boards from date palm and expanded polystyrene (EPS) wastes and reported that the bending strength and stress reached acceptable values of 0.78 GPa and 2.84 MPa cou- pled with good fbre-matrix inter face adhesion. Pao et al. * Banjo Ayobami Akinyemi bantonbows@gmail.com 1 Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara, Nigeria