WOOD-TILE QUALITY COMPOSITE BOARD FROM COCO COIR DUST AND UNPLASTICIZED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE WASTE MATERIALS

Abstract

Gearing on sustainable technology, two waste materials, coco coir dust and UPVC were
utilized to produce a wood-tile quality, high density composite board material. Adopting the technology in
producing fiberboards, the use of UPVC as binder to combine with dried coir dust (5% moisture content) was
investigated. Three mix ratios of UPVC: Coir Dust were used: 80:20, 70:30 and 60:40. The produced board
from each combination was then subjected to mechanical and physical property tests. Their properties were
compared using the analysis of variance. The mixing process involves the use of two-roll mill machine
operating at 204OC while the pressing involves the heat press machine at 108OC and pressure of 450 psi for
3minutes. The finished products highlight a glossy brown surface comparable to a wood tile, and can be
readily manufactured without the additional veneer coating. Physical properties of the 3 ratios were tested
against ordinary board. All 3 ratios exhibit 0% Water Absorption (WA) and Thickness Swelling (TS) while
ordinary board showed 28.5% WA and 16.5% TS. Mechanical tests for the 80:20 ratio yielded a highest
mean value of 55KPa·m on Impact Strength (IS) and 68.85MPa on Modulus of Rupture (MOR) while
ordinary boards yielded 50KPa·m on IS and 7.51MPa on MOR. The least mean on different properties of the
bio-composite material were compared with the means of commercial board product. This study found that
the PVC-Coir Dust combination exhibited highly satisfactory performance based on the physical and
mechanical properties as compared to the ordinary board.