Authors:Anwar, U.M.K; Paridah, M.T; Hamdan, H; Zaidon, A; Bakar, E.S
Abstract:A study was undertaken to impregnate bamboo strips (Gigantochloa scortechinii) with low-molecular-weight phenol formaldehyde resin (LMwPF). The bamboo samples were taken from the basal and middle portions of the culm. Upon treatment with LMwPF using vacuum process, the weight percent gain (WPG) and moisture content (MC) of the treated bamboo strips were evaluated. The WPG of the impregnated strips increased when the duration of soaking in the resin increased. After 120 min of soaking, the WPG increased by 4.51 per cent and 7.52 per cent for basal and middle portions, respectively. The MC of the treated strips gradually decreased from the original mean of 20 per cent to 5 per cent after drying in an oven at 60>C for 12 h. The optimum drying duration was approximately 9 h, beyond which the treated samples started to warp
Keywords:bamboos; drying; formaldehyde; moisture conten