Engineered floor with MDP support layer of lignocellulosic by-product and incorporated waste plastic

• Grant number: 24/15713-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Construction Industry
• Principal Investigator: Juliano Fiorelli
• Grantee: Juliano Fiorelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cristiane Inácio de Campos ; Fernando Vinícius da Rocha ; Julio Cesar Molina ; Julio Soriano ; Matheus Roberto Cabral

Abstract

Transformations in society's way of life and industrial advancement are contributing to the generation of waste from human consumption and the agro-industrial sector. Unconventional materials based on agroforestry by-products have been the focus of scientific investigations around the world and are commercially competitive. Waste plastic represents an environmental liability that requires investigations aimed at its sustainable and conscious destination. Thus, this research project has an original character, as it aims to evaluate, through experimental and numerical studies, an engineered floor with a support layer flat and trapezoidal of Medium Density Particleboard (MDP) made from lignocellulosic by-product (Pinus spp. reforestation wood) and high-quality polyethylene. residual density (MDPlastic) agglomerate with reduced content of polyurethane resin based on castor oil (PU-Castor). MDPlastic will be produced on a laboratory scale through the thermo-pressing process, with medium density (550 - 750 kg/m3), using wood particles and residual plastic agglomerated in different percentages, with PU-Castor organic resin contents varying from 8 to 12%. These materials will be evaluated through thermal, physical, mechanical, microstructural and fire performance tests. The panel with the best performance will be evaluated as a constituent of Engineered Wood Flooring (EWF) through experimental and numerical analyses. A life cycle analysis will be conducted to justify the sustainable approach of EWF in relation to commercial ones and an economic analysis that will evaluate costs and valuation of environmental externalities. The innovative result of this research is the production of a reconstituted panel produced from a consortium of lignocellulosic by-product and high residual density polyethylene with reduced organic resin content, significant dimensional stability and low environmental impact due to part of the panel's constituent matrix being formed by hydrophobic material with the potential to be applied as an EWF flat and trapezoidal support layer for civil construction. (AU)