Investigating the Extent of Urea Formaldehyde Resin Cure in Medium Density Fiberboard: Resin Extractability and Fiber Effects

Abstract

The degree of resin cure achievable in urea formaldehyde (UF) resin is known to influence the hydrolytic stability of UF resin. In the current study, a significant difference in water extractable resin components has been observed between cured pure resin and that from medium density fiberboard (MDF) panels. Results show some 50 to 70% of resin components may be removed on water extraction from resinated MDF fiber and panel samples. In contrast, cured pure UF resins have only a small fraction of resin mass extractable into water with nitrogen-containing components remaining incorporated into the cured resin. The relatively high resin mass losses from panel material together with loss of nitrogen-containing components suggest not only free urea, but urea-methylene species are labile and readily extractable into water. Wax contributes to differing panel extractability when pressed at either 100 or 160°C, whereas panel resin loading has a significant effect on extractable resin components. A lower resin loading led to relatively greater resin extractability, which was corroborated by the extractability of resin-fiber mixtures up to 50% resin content. An assessment of extracted panel residues suggests a relative decrease of urea and urea-formaldehyde condensation products after water extraction. With UF resin highly mobile on fiber during MDF manufacture, the results suggest resin components may separate, leading to their incomplete incorporation into a cured, cross-linked UF resin matrix, with an implication that resin cure on fiber may not be complete compared to that found with pure resin.