Hemp flour as a formaldehyde scavenger for melamine-urea-formaldehyde adhesive in plywood production

Abstract

The possibility of using hemp flour as a filling material for melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) adhesive was investigated for the process of manufacturing plywood. Adhesive mixtures were filled with various amounts of hemp flour and compared to rye flour as a reference mixture, and their properties were tested. The quantity of added filler had a significant effect on the resins viscosity. Moreover, the replacement of rye flour with the hemp flour resulted in acceleration of gel time and a slight increase in solid content. Due to the high proteins content, hemp flour led to a significant reduction of formaldehyde emission. Bonding quality of plywood made with hemp flour as a filling material for the adhesive mixture meet the requirements from the standard. Introducing it in an amount of 20 pbw and 25 pbw (parts by weight) allowed for the production of plywood characterized by equally good mechanical properties as that of reference plywood glued with an adhesive mixed with rye flour. In summary, the proper amounts of hemp flour can be applied as a filling material and formaldehyde scavenger for MUF adhesive without the deterioration of mechanical properties of manufactured plywood.