Title: Fire-retardant properties of wood particleboards treated with boric acid
Abstract: The fire-retardant performance of wood particleboards treated with three percentages (8, 12, and 16%) of boric acid was determined. Particles were treated during wood particles blending with adhesive. Fire-retardant properties were measured according to ASTM D3806 Standard Test Method of Small-Scale Evaluation of Fire-Retardant Paints, (2-Foot Tunnel Method). Particleboards treated with 16% boric acid showed the best fire-retardant properties, particularly in terms of weight loss, flame spread speed and afterflame time. The use of white birch inner bark particles as dispersant also lowered particleboard weight loss during fire testing. The use of boric acid not only decreased the flame spread speed but also greatly improved the internal bond and thickness swelling of manufactured particleboards over controls.