Effect of Xylanase–Laccase Synergistic Pretreatment on Physical–Mechanical Properties of Environment-Friendly Self-bonded Bamboo Particleboards

Diminishing wood supply and high formaldehyde emission from synthetic adhesive-bonded lignocellulose boards have become concerns. In this research, new adhesive-free boards made from xylanase–laccase-modified bamboo particles were developed. The bamboo particles were pretreated first with xylanase and then with laccase. The synergistic pretreatment was performed according to a Taguchi experiment that included six variables: xylanase treatment (enzyme concentration: 10, 20, 30 U/g; reaction pH: 8, 9, 10; reaction time: 30, 60, 90 min) and laccase treatment (enzyme concentration: 10, 20, 30 U/g; reaction pH: 2, 3, 4; reaction time: 30, 60, 90 min). The particles were hot-pressed to harvest the self-bonded boards, whose physical–mechanical properties were evaluated. The results showed that all six variables (except laccase reaction time) caused significant effects at 0.05 level on physical–mechanical properties of boards. The optimum pretreatment parameters were determined to be xylanase (20 U/g, pH 9, 60 min) and laccase (20 U/g, pH 4, 60 min). The optimized flexural strength, flexural modulus, internal bonding, and 2 h thickness swelling of boards met the highest requirements in Chinese national standard GB/T 4897 (2015) for particleboards. The performance of proposed boards was also better than that of reported self-bonded bamboo particleboards with only a laccase pretreatment.     

Occurrence and hydrogeochemical characteristics of high-fluoride groundwater in Xiji County,southern part of Ningxia Province,China

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - High-F− groundwater is widely distributed in Xiji County, which endangers the safety of drinking water. In order to evaluate the key factors...