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The use of natural fibers or particles as alternative raw materials for particleboard production is essential due to the shrinking forest area. Currently, dung waste from the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is being used as a raw material for particleboard due to its high fiber content. Although the product still has inferior mechanical and physical characteristics, it can be improved by layering bamboo. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance the mechanical and physical qualities of elephant dung particleboard by adding layers of bamboo. The particleboard constructed had three layers; namely, the face and back in the form of a bamboo layers, as well as the core, which was in the form of elephant dung. The elephant dung was evenly mixed with isocyanate adhesive using a spray gun, and the bamboo layers were coated with adhesive on one side of the surface. The sample was subjected to a hot press at a temperature of 150 °C and 30 kg/cm2 pressure for 10 min. Generally, JIS A 5908-2003 is the specification used to test the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard. During the experiment, the characteristics examined include density, moisture content, water absorption, thickness swelling, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and internal bonding, which were enhanced by using layers of bamboo. The results showed that the physical properties of the particleboard with bamboo layers were a density of 0.62–0.69 g/cm3, a moisture content of 7.87–10.35%, water absorption of 38.27–68.58%, and a thickness swelling of 10.87–30.00%, which met the minimum standards of JIS A 5908-2003. The mechanical characteristics had values for the modulus of elasticity of 1952–7282 MPa, the modulus of rupture of 20.44–68.27 MPa, and the internal bonding of 0.16–0.38 MPa, which met the JIS A 5908-2003 standard. Based on these results, the particleboard with Belangke bamboo layers was the best in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) are the world's largest living land mammals. The elephant's digestive system can only absorb 40% of the nutrients in digested feed, and the remainder is excreted as dung. Elephant dung waste can be used as a particleboard material due to its high fiber content. The objectives of this study are: (i) to prepare elephant dung waste as raw material for particleboard, (ii) to improve elephant dung particleboard's physical and mechanical properties using wood shavings, and (iii) to study the influence of several parameters on the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard. The particleboard dimensions and density were set at 20 cm × 20 cm × 1 cm and 0.8 g/cm3, respectively. The mixture ratio of elephant dung and wood shavings was 100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, and 50/50 (% w/w). This mixture ratio of particles was sprayed with 7% isocyanate adhesive. The pressing at a pressure of 30 kg/cm2 for 5 min and 160 °C was used in this study. The physical and mechanical properties of particleboard were tested according to JIS A 5908 (2003) standard. The result shows that the addition of wood shaving improved the elephant dung particleboard's physical and mechanical properties. Except for moisture content and water absorption, the addition of wood shavings has a significant effect on elephant dung particleboard's physical and mechanical properties. The best ratio of elephant dung and wood-shaving for this research is 50/50 and has fulfilled the JIS A 5908-2003 standard, except for thickness swelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]