Development and characterization of wood-polypropylene plastic-cement composite board

The utilization of agricultural residues and industrial wastes such as plastics to complement the use of solid wood in the manufacturing of composite panels presents an effective and efficient way of waste management for sustainable utilization of resources, especially in developing countries. Thus, the present study aimed at developing a cheap, safe, and energy-efficient composite board for effective house partitioning from sawdust and polypropylene plastic using cement and expanded polystyrene (EPS). Composite boards were developed from the blend of sawdust and polypropylene plastic using cement and expanded polystyrene (EPS) as adhesives. The composite boards were made by varying the sawdust-polypropylene ratio as well as the cement-EPS ratio. A constant load of 0.2 MPa was used in compacting the materials in a prepared aluminum mold under a hydraulic press machine. Physico-mechanical properties of the composite board such as density, water absorption, moisture content, compressive strength, tensile strength and flexural strengths were evaluated. The density of the composite boards varied from 490 to 630 kg/m3. The moisture content ranged from 6.04 to 9.09% while the water absorption ranged from 30 to 80% after 2 and 24 h immersion. The highest flexural, tensile and compressive strength for the composite boards were 7.10, 1.52, and 3.72 MPa, respectively. The composite samples met all the requirements of a partitioning wall except for flexural strength based on IS3087 standard. Cement and EPS were found to be suitable as adhesive for the development of composite boards from sawdust and polypropylene.