Combustion and Mechanical Properties of Fire Retardant Treated Waste Paper Board for Interior Finishing Material

Abstract

The physical and mechanical properties of fire retardant treated composites made of recycled waste paper were examined to investigate the possibility of using the composites as interior finishing materials. With specific gravities of 0.8 and 1.0, and containing 10, 15, and 20(wt.%) of fire retardant (inorganic chemical, FR-7®) using the fabricating method used by commercial fiberboard manufacturers. Shredded waste newspapers and urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesives, at 10% by weight on raw material, were used to produce recycled waste paper boards in laboratory scale experiments. The bending modulus of rupture increased as board density increased, and decreased as the fire retardant content increased. Mechanical properties were a little inferior to medium density fiberboard (MDF) or hardboard (HB), but significantly superior to gypsum board (GB) and insulation board (IB). The incombustibility per JIS A 1321-1994 [Japanese Standards Association (1994). Testing method for incombustibility of interior finish material and procedure of buildings, JIS A 1321-1994] of the fire retardant treated board increased on increasing the fire retardant content. The study shows that there is a possibility that composites made of recycled waste paper can be used as fire retardant treated interior finishing materials.