Sieving and hydrothermal pre-treatments for preparing ultra-high mechanical strength particleboard

The application of non woody biomass materials in the manufacture of wood-based panels has been confirmed as an efficient carbon sequestration approach. In this study, reed straw was recommended to produce reed-based particleboards (RPs). Sieving and hydrothermal pre-treatments were conducted on the inner layer reed particles to reduce the adverse influence of the waxy layer on the mechanical strength of RPs. The thickness swelling rate was merely 1.04% (2 h), and the internal bonding strength could reach up to 0.88 MPa, which met the ISO requirements for heavy-duty load bearing in dry conditions (P-HLB REG). More importantly, this study constructed the plate forming process that retains the natural morphological characteristics of reed to the maximum extent. Generally, the mechanical strength of RPs was markedly higher than mostly straw-based and even wood-based panels. The static bending strength of RPs could reach 35.6 MPa after sieving pre-treatment. In addition, according to the LCA, the net carbon flux could reach −1227.55 kg CO₂ eq. when producing 1 m³ RPs. The obtained RPs could be utilized as wood substitutes to produce furniture and building materials with promising environmental and economic benefits.