Mechanical and Thermal Characterization of Urea-Formaldehyde Impregnated Wood Polymer Nanocomposites (WPNCs)

Abstract

In this study, urea-formaldehyde resin wood polymer nanocomposites (WPNCs) were investigated. All the WPNCs undergo characterizations. The FT-IR spectra confirmed the impregnation of organic urea-formaldehyde into the raw wood. Besides, WPNCs were generally more thermally stable over temperature compared to the raw wood due to the introduction of urea-formaldehyde into the raw wood. From mechanical testing, WPNCs showed higher MOE and MOR for Eugenia spp. and Xylopia spp., respectively. Besides, WPNCs on Eugenia spp. showed higher Young’s modulus compared to raw wood and other WPNCs. From the X-ray diffraction patterns, the crystallinity of WPNCs increased with the introduction of urea-formaldehyde resin into raw wood. The SEM micrograph of WPNCs clearly proved that the void space was fully filled with urea-formaldehyde resins and most of the waxy substance was removed. Therefore, urea-formaldehyde-impregnated WPNCs showed significantly effective on Eugenia spp., continued by Xylopia spp. and Artocarpus elasticus wood species.