WOOD RESEARCH Volume 62, Number 2, 2017
Aizat Ghani, Paiman Bawon, Zaidon Ashaari, Mohammad Waridwan Wahab, Lee Seng Hua, and Lum Wei Chen

Short note. Addition of propylamine as formaldehyde scavenger for urea formaldehyde-bonded particleboard

Rubberwood particleboard were produced using urea formaldehyde (UF) resin admixed with propylamine as formaldehyde scavenger. 1 % propylamine were incorporated into 8 %, 10 %, 12 %, 14 % and 16 % UF resins, respectively. The effectiveness of propylamine addition to reduce formaldehyde emission from particleboard was examined. Physical and mechanical properties were evaluated according to Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS). The results showed that addition of propylamine had reduced 33 to 65 % formaldehyde emission from particleboard made with different dosages of UF resin. However, the properties of the particleboard were adversely influenced by the addition of propylamine. Higher resin dosage (≥14 %) had counterbalanced the loss of strength and dimensional stability but accompanied by increased formaldehyde emission. As a conclusion, UF dosage of 14 % admixed with 1 % propylamine is the most ideal formulation to produce particleboard with low formaldehyde emission while maintaining the desired properties.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 63, Number 5, 2018
Hamza Cinar

Effects of temperature and thickness of wood based boards on formaldehyde emission

This study investigated the effects of board thicknesses and temperature on formaldehyde emission (FE) for different wood based boards, sampled from standard particleboard (PB) and medium density fiberboard (MDF). Test samples with the thicknesses of 8, 12, and 18 mm analyzed for formaldehyde emission at temperatures of 10, 20, 25, and 30°C and 65% relative moisture conent for 60, 120, and 180 minutes after production. The highest value of FE was found at 1.2922 ppm for PB and 0.3800 ppm for MDF of 18 mm, treated at the temperature of 30°C. The lowest emission was found to be 0.0611 ppm in the PB of 8 mm, and 0.0444 ppm for 18 mm MDF, treated at a temperature of 10°C. A significant increase for FE was detected in all board types at the temperatures of 20, 25, and 30°C. However, a significant decrease was also detected at 10°C for all types of boards. Accordingly, an increase from 101% to 1,192% and a decrease from 39% to 9% was observed for PBs. MDF samples yielded better results as an increase from 4% to 280% and a decrease from 55% to 31%. Regarding distance to E1 (0.10 ppm), all values were above the limits of E1 (≤ 0.10 ppm, EN 717-1), except samples treated at 10°C. In conclusion, the temperature and thickness of wood based boards significantly affect their formaldehyde emissions.