WOOD RESEARCH Volume 68, Number 1, 2023
Joanna Walkiewicz, Jakub Kawalerczyk, Radosław Mirski, and Zuzanna Szubert

Short notes: The tea leaves as a filler for UF resin plywood production

The addition of green tea leaves fractions < 0.315 mm as a filler to urea-formaldehyde resin to reduction of emission of formaldehyde from three-layer birch plywood was investigated. Moreover, other properties such as bonding quality and water resistance of plywood were investigated. It was found that green tea had an ability to absorb formaldehyde. This phenomenon was caused by phenolic compounds contained in green tea leaves. The addition of green tea in the amount of 20% and 25% resulted in a decrease in formaldehyde emission from plywood comparing to the reference sample. The bonding quality test showed that the addition of tea leaves as a filler did not affect the strength properties of the tested bond lines.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 67, Number 3, 2022
Xu Sheng, Xu Peng, Du Yuting, and Zhao Puqi

Short notes: A research on the application of industrial by-product calcium sulfate whiskers in paper filling

The basic properties of calcium sulfate whiskers were studied and compared with commercial ground calcium carbonate (GCC) fillers. The modified whiskers were used for paper filling and compared with a commercial precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). As a result, it shows that when the unmodified calcium sulfate whisker is used to fill the paper, the ash content of the handmade sheet is low because of its dissolution problem. The ash content of the paper increased obviously when the modified calcium sulfate whisker was added, which reached the ash level of PCC filling. In addition, the paper strength increased greatly, but the light scattering coefficient decreased. In addition, the strength property of the modified calcium sulfate whisker filling paper is basically the same as that of the PCC filling paper with 14.99% ash content when the ash content of the modified calcium sulfate whisker filling paper is 21.95%.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 67, Number 2, 2022
Dorota Dukarska, Jakub Kawalerczyk, and JUSTYNA WŁODARCZYK

Properties of the water-resistant plywood glued with pf resin with the addition of tannin filler and nanoclay

The conducted study was aimed at finding the phenol-formaldehyde adhesive formulation containing both the nanoclay and the tannin filler which allows to manufacture water-resistant plywood characterized by the improved properties. The research assumed the application of six experimental variants having a different proportions of the mentioned components which were compared with the mixture prepared according to the industrial recipe. Properties of liquid mixtures such as their gelation time and viscosity were investigated. Moreover, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed. The manufactured plywood panels were tested in terms of bonding quality, bending strength and modulus of elasticity. Studies have shown that after the adjustment in components proportions it is possible to achieve the proper viscosity level of adhesive mixtures. The results also indicated that the suitable amount of nanoclay can contribute to the acceleration of resin gel time, however, the DSC analysis showed no effect on its reactivity. The nanoclay concentrations ranging from 2 to 4 pbw (parts by weight) per 100 g of adhesive positively influenced the bonding quality of plywood. Furthermore, there was no clear tendency in case of the effect of applied formulation on the modulus of elasticity and bending strength of plywood. The mixture containing 3 pbw of nanoclay and 5.3 pbw of tannin filler was distinguished as the most beneficial taking into account the improvement in the properties of manufactured plywood.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 62, Number 4, 2017
Xu Peng

Fiber in-situ synthesis of calcium silicate for usage in fine paper

This paper researches fiber in-situ synthesis of calcium silicate that is made from sodium silicate solution extracted from fly ash, lime milk and fiber and its usage in fine paper. The in-situ synthesis technique was used to prepare man-made calcium silicate loaded in paper. The paper is in line with the copy paper standards. The experiments determined the optimum conditions for papermaking as follows, the pre-processing time of fiber immersed in the silicon solution 6h, pulp freeness 42°SR, the SiO2 concentration of the silicon solution 65.5g/L, the effective calcium concentration milk of lime 175g/L, stirring speed 550r/min, the reaction temperature 95°C, the reaction time 90min. Under these conditions, the filler retention rate in fine paper can reach more than 80%. A scanning electron Microscope-Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to analyze paper products and structure. The results showed that the calcium silicate generated within the cell lumen, cell wall, and other open spaces of the fibers, and good bonding was demonstrated between the filler and fibers.