Oriented strand board (OSB) has been gradually accepted, used and developed in China. Bamboo is a renewable and potential non-wood fibre resource for making OSB. But the nature of bamboo makes its products including bamboo OSB (BOSB) more prone to decay and mold. Protection BOSB from biodegradation is the key both to efficiently using bamboo resource and to improving the durability of the final products. This study evaluated the physical and mechanical properties of BOSB experimental panels treated with 3 different copper-based preservatives. Strands were prepared from the culms of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) with age of 4-5 years, and phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin was used as the binder. Ammoniacal Copper Quat (ACQ), Copper Azole (CuAz) and Copper Naphthenate (CuN) were selected as preservatives. Each of 3 preservatives was sprayed at three loading levels onto the dried strands during blending. The BOSB panels were evaluated for properties including thickness swelling after 24-hour water soaking, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, and internal bond strength. The results indicated that the experimental panels had excellent mechanical properties and extremely low thickness swelling. According to the China Standard LY/T 1580-2000 ‘Oriented strand board’, all panels treated with CuAz and CuN met the specifications for grade OSB/4. The panels treated with ACQ also met the specifications for OSB/4 with the exception of the panels treated at the loading level 2. The panels treated with CuAz and CuN generally had better properties than those treated with ACQ. There were no trends to indicate that preservatives used had adversely affected the bonding of PF resin, and no clear trends were found that the properties of BOSB panels decreased with increasing the loading level of each preservative.

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