Effects of fire retardants on mechanical properties and water resistance of Pinus massoniana particleboard

Pinus massoniana Lamb. wood particleboards processed by inorganic and organic fire retardants of two densities were prepared by isocyanate and MUF resin. Variations of internal bonding strength (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and thickness swelling rate (TS) of particleboard were observed. Results demonstrated decreasing of IB from 0.81 MPa to 0.42 MPa and 0.36 MPa, MOR from 17.3 MPa to 12.5 MPa and 12.3 MPa, MOE from 1840 MPa to 1328 MPa and 1117 MPa, and increasing of TS from 5.2% to 15.1% and 11.2%, respectively, for the treated MUF particleboards of density 0.65 g.cm-3. Similarly, decreasing of IB from 0.93 MPa to 0.66 MPa and 0.64 MPa, MOR from 16.2 MPa to 10.6 MPa and 12.1 MPa, MOE from 1246 MPa to 1573 MPa and 1466 MPa, and increasing of TS from 6.7% to 7.1% and 6.0%, respectively, when isocyanate adhesive was used. The similar changes were showed when the density of particleboard was 0.75 g.cm-3. Improving density of particleboard appropriately and decrease density difference between the surface to chip layers could make the profile density curve tend to be stable, which could get a relatively high mechanical strength and water resistance. Synergistic effects between isocyanate and fire retardants was confirmed. The particleboard prepared with isocyanate was obviously superior to that prepared with MUF resin in all performances.

Effects of stand density on turpentine terpene components and resin duct morphological structure of Pinus massoniana

The influence of stand density on the resin duct morphological structure and terpene components of Pinus massoniana were studied. The resin duct morphological characteristics and the relative content of the terpene components were investigated by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, respectively. The experimental results revealed that there was a specific correlation between the stand density and resin duct area, resin duct diameter, and the relative contents of main terpene components in the turpentine extracts. Additionally, the relative contents of β-pinene and (+)-camphene were positively correlated with stand density, with correlation coefficients of 0.8208 and 0.5539, respectively. In contrast, the relative contents of (+)-longifolene and (+)-longicyclene were negatively correlated with stand density, with correlation coefficients of -0.5750 and -0.7726, respectively, and α-pinene, β-caryophyllene, and (+)-α-longipinene had no correlation with stand density. The relative content of (+)-α-pinene was negatively correlated with the relative contents of both (+)-longifolene and (+)-longicyclene, with correlation coefficients of -0.8770 and -0.8914, respectively. There were positive correlations between the relative contents of (+)-longifolene and (+)-longicyclene with correlation coefficient of 0.9718, (+)-longifolene and (+)-α-longipinene with correlation coefficient of 0.8399, β-caryophyllene and (+)-α-longipinene with correlation coefficient of 0.9360, and (+)-longicyclene and (+)-α-longipinene with correlation coefficient of 0.8626.