EVALUATION OF LAMINATED PANELS FROM SEMANTAN BAMBOO AND OIL PALM TRUNKS FOR SUSTAINABLE COMPOSITE MANUFACTURING
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2025.0032
Received: 3 September 2024 Accepted: 13 April 2025 Published Online: 8 July 2025
The increasing demand for sustainable materials in the composite industry has driven interest in alternative non-wood resources. Among them, bamboo and oil palm biomass are recognised as potential natural fibres that can be utilised to develop eco-friendly composite materials. This study aimed to evaluate the properties of laminated panels made from Semantan bamboo crush mat and oil palm trunk (OPT) veneer with different layer configurations. Three types of laminated panels are compared in the study: A bamboo mats panel, an OPT veneers panel and a hybrid panel with veneer applied as the core layer while the mats served as surface layers. The composites were fabricated using a hot-pressed technique and urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin as a binder. The panels were tested for physical and mechanical properties and the results showed that layer configuration significantly influenced these properties. The panel consisting entirely of a bamboo mat showed the best performance, while the hybrid panel was comparable in most properties tested. On the other hand, the panel with entirely OPT veneers was inferior, suggesting that the hybrid panel would be a promising alternative to wood-based products.
KEYWORDS:1 Department of Wood and Fibre Industry,
Faculty of Forestry and Environment,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
2 Institute of Tropical Forestry and Tropical Products,
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
3 Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
4 Unit Bamboo, Rattan & Palm,
Department of Forest Production,
Forest Research Institute Malaysia,
52109 Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia.
* Corresponding author e-mail: bfatomer@upm.edu.my