Abstract
The negative effects of formaldehyde emission in MDF production on human health are known, and therefore many scientists are working to reduce formaldehyde emissions. In this study, the effects of MDF plates on formaldehyde emission were investigated by adding different amounts of activated carbon into urea formaldehyde resin during the synthesis phase.
 
 First, the gelation time behavior of the resin was studied by observing the pH, gelation time, solid content, flow time and viscosity of the modified resin in comparison to the standard reference resin which has no activated carbon inside. The dosing of the activated charcoal in the dry resin was kept at 1wt%, 3wt% and 5wt%. After that modified resin was used in the production of 40x40 cm2 MDF samples by using laboratory scale press line with full automation system. İnternal bonding strength, surface soundness, screw holding resistance, water absorption and thickness swelling were also measured in addition to the main interested parameter formaldehyde emission level which is determined via spectrometric technique following an extraction procedure.
 
 Threshold values for activated carbon were determined to be 1wt%. Formaldehyde emission level was observed where addition of 1wt% activated carbon into the urea formaldehyde adhesive decreased the formaldehyde emission 52% comparison to reference whereas addition of activated carbon at above its threshold level provided 47% decreasing.
Highlights
The increase in diseases in the world has increased the awareness of the chemical hazards that will come from the products used
Increasing with amount of activated carbon increases the viscosity of urea formaldehyde resin and extended the gelation time period
The reactivity of the UF resin depends on the amount of free formaldehyde which produces more acidic during the curing process when the hardener is added (Moslemi 2020)
Summary
The increase in diseases in the world has increased the awareness of the chemical hazards that will come from the products used. Urea formaldehyde resin has an important use in wood panel industry. This resin is preferred because it is cheap and transparent but ıt has disadvantages. These disadvantages are low water resistance and high formaldehyde emission that is measured from MDF. As it known, formaldehyde has many negative effects on human health. In 2004 the Internal Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified formaldehyde as harmful chemical for human body (Pizzi 1994; Beram and Yasar, 2020)
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