Hydrolytic stability and crystallinity of cured urea–formaldehyde resin adhesives with different formaldehyde/urea mole ratios

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between the hydrolytic stability and the crystalline regions of cured UF resins with different formaldehyde/urea (F/U) mole ratios to better understand the hydrolysis of cured urea–formaldehyde (UF) resin adhesives responsible for its formaldehyde emission in service. As the F/U mole ratio decreased, the hydrolytic stability of cured UF resins improved, but decreased when the particle size of the resin was reduced. To further understand the improved hydrolytic stability of cured UF resin with lower F/U mole ratios, X-ray diffraction (XRD) was extensively used to examine the crystalline part of cured UF resins, depending on F/U mole ratios, cure temperature and time, hardener type and level. Cured UF resins with higher F/U mole ratios (1.6 and 1.4) showed amorphous structure, while those with lower F/U mole ratios (1.2 and 1.0) showed crystalline regions, which could partially explain the improved hydrolytic stability of the cured UF resin. The crystalline part intensity increased as cure temperature, cure time and hardener content increased. But the 2 θ angles of these crystalline regions did not change, depending on cure temperature and time, hardener type and level, suggesting that the crystalline regions of the cured UF resin were inherent. This study indicates that the crystalline regions of cured UF resins with lower F/U mole ratio contribute partially to the improved hydrolytic stability of the cured resin.