Contrasting the major characteristics of pinewood and Amazon hardwoods to provide high-quality cement-bonded particleboards

[Display omitted] •Wood chemistry mainly affects the initial dissolution stage of cement curing.•Some Amazon hardwoods are more compatible with cement than pinewood.•The wood-cement compatibility does not determine the quality of the particleboards.•Wood voids highly affect the matrix-cement interface and particleboard performance.•Lower-density woods provide compacted and resistant cement-bonded particleboards. The combined effect of wood chemical composition, anatomical traits, and density on cement curing, matrix-reinforcement interface, and final performance of cement-bonded particleboards (CBPBs) needs deeper investigation. Besides, many uncharacterized Amazon hardwoods challenge softwoods' often-reported superiority for producing CBPBs. Certified Cordia goeldiana, Brosimum parinarioides, Parkia gigantocarpa, and Pinus oocarpa woods were characterized by histology, cell biometry, basic density, and chemical composition. The hydration kinetics of the Portland cement pastes was evaluated by isothermal heat conduction. The CBPBs production parameters were wood:cement ratio of 1:2.75, water:cement ratio of 1:2.5, 4% of CaCl2 additive (based on cement mass), and target density of 1.25 g cm−3. They were submitted to physical and mechanical tests, and the polished surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The cement kinetics showed that wood's higher contents of extractives and hemicelluloses harmed the initial dissolution stage of Portland cement curing but not the essential stages of acceleration and deacceleration. C. goeldiana wood showed the highest compatibility indexes with cement, and all hardwoods surpassed P. oocarpa. Thin-walled fibers, big-diameter fibers, and big-diameter pores favored cement impregnation. Debonding at wood-cement interfaces of CBPBs reinforced with higher-density woods was critical for crack propagation throughout the matrix. Less critical inter-particle cracks occurred in CBPBs reinforced with lower-density woods. The better interface and the highest volume of wood particles of the lowest-density P. gigantocarpa wood provided the CBPBs with the best physical and mechanical performance overcoming the chemical incompatibility relevant only in the initial dissolution stage of cement curing.