Additives phenol-formaldehyde adhesives

Phenol-formaldehyde adhesives are the only other adhesive system used in significant quantity in particleboard production. The increased durability of this class over that of the ureas results in phenolics as the adhesive of choice for exterior particleboard. However, phenolic adhesives are only used where the additional durability is required since they are more expensive and require longer curing times. 

Phenol-formaldehyde adhesives are produced by a condensation polymerization reaction between phenol and formaldehyde. The phenolics used for exterior particleboard are made at a formalde-hyde/phenol ratio greater than 1.0 i.e., they are classified as resoles and additional formaldehyde is not required to complete the curing reaction to a highly cross-linked network structure. Many characteristics can be incorporated into the adhesives by changes in the F/P ratio, condensation pH, and condensation time. The reactive solids content is normally between kO and 50 percent since the stability and viscosity are adversely affected at higher solids. 

Phenol—formaldehyde (PF) was the first of the synthetic adhesives developed. By combining phenol with formaldehyde, which has exceptional cross-linking abiHties with many chemicals and materials, and a small amount of sodium hydroxide, a resin was obtained. The first resins soHdified as they cooled, and it was discovered that if it was ground to a powder with a small amount of additional formaldehyde and the appHcation of more heat, the mixture would Hquify and then convert to a permanently hard material. Upon combination of the powdered resin mixture with a filler material such as wood flour, the result then being placed in a mold and pressed under heat and pressure, a hard, durable, black plastic material was found to result. For many years these resulting products were called BakeHte, the trade name of the inventor. BakeHte products are still produced today, but this use accounts for only a small portion of the PF resins used. 

Experiment 2. Effect of Molar Ratio of Sodium Hydroxide to Phenol of Phenolic Resin on Strength Properties of Lignin-Phenolic Resin Adhesives. Sodium hydroxide has been the predominant chemical used as a catalyst in resol resin technology. Through variation in the amounts of the catalyst and the method of catalyst addition, a wide variety of resin systems can be formulated. This experiment examined the properties of phenolic resins formulated with various sodium hydroxide/phenol ratios and their effects on the bond properties of structural flakeboards made with lignin-phenolic resin adhesive systems. Variables for resin preparation were four molar ratios of sodium hydroxide/phenol (i.e., 0.2, 0.45,0.7, and 0.95). The formaldehyde/phenol ratio and solids content were fixed at 3/1 and 42%, respectively. 

In general, these groups of cellulose ethers have been used for their innate adhesive properties and to provide thickening to adhesive formulations. They are used for plywood adhesives, industrial adhesives, wallpaper paste, library paste, and latex adhesives. For example, methylcellulose is used in some adhesives as an additive to control viscosity, especially in the heat-cure phenol-formaldehyde glues and other hot-pressing adhesives. Hydroxyethylcellulose is used as an ingredient in polyvinyl acetate emulsions, where it acts as a thickener and protective colloid. 

Poly(vinyl alcohol) is utilized as a component of starch-based adhesives.11121114 Other patents report the use of partially oxidized starch,1115 dextrins,1116 dextrins and urea,1117 borax,1118 boric acid,1119 and vinyl methyl ether-maleic acid copolymers.1120 Other patents indicate the use of poly (vinyl alcohol) with partially hydrolyzed poly(vinyl acetate),1121 nonhy-drolyzed poly(vinyl acetate),1122 and poly(vinyl chloride).1123 A few patents have reported such poly acrylic additives as poly (acrylic acid)1124 and its salts,1125 poly(acrylamide),1126 1127 A-methylacrylamide or poly(A-acryl-amide),1128 and polyethyleneimine.1129 Polystyrene has also been used,1130 as well as more complex copolymers such as a maleic acid monobutyl ester-methyl vinyl ether copolymer, together with dextrin and polyacrylamide),1131 carboxylated ethyl acrylate-styrene zinc salt copolymer,1132 ethylene-methyl acrylate-vinyl acetate copolymer,1133 vinyl acetate-vinyl pyr-rolidone copolymer,1134 and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.1135 Some adhesives are compounded with SBR latex1136 1138 and phenol-formaldehyde resins.1139... 

This approach was then extended by Pizzi s group to other phenolic type adhesives such as phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde networks [19], In this work, it was shown that the addition of 1 gave cold setting resins with performances and costs comparable to those made using formaldehyde alone. Thus, the phenol-resorcinol-furfural-formaldehyde cold sets obtained appeared to have a lower bulk shrinkage compared to those prepared without 1. Moreover, it was established that the presence of furfural did not slow down the curing rate of the resins. 

The addition of small percentages of Na+-montmorillomte (NaMMT) nanoclay does not appear to improve much the performance of thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde (PF) and phenol-uiea-formeildehyde (PUF) resins used as adhesives for plywood and for wood particleboard. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies indicated that NaMMT does not become completely exfoliated when mixed in small proportions to PF resins, contrary to that observed for acid-setting urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins. Differential scaiming calorimetry (DSC) indicated that NaMMT has no accelerating effect on the curing of alkaline PF resins, contrary to that observed for UF resins. 

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