Influence of glyoxal on curing of urea-formaldehyde resins

Abstract In the present paper, the effect of glyoxal on the gel formation within the adhesive systems based on urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins is shown. A reduction of formaldehyde content in wood-based panels by decreasing the formaldehyde/urea molar ratio in the UF resins leads to increasing of the UF resin gel time, and impairing the qualitative characteristics of the UF-based wood materials. Glyoxal is shown to speed up the crosslinking of the macromolecules as well as significant reduction of gel time of adhesive composition. The first reason is the result of reaction between glyoxal and ammonium ion leading to protons releasing. Another reason is that glyoxal and its interaction products react with macromolecules of the UF resin forming a three-dimension cross-linked structure. The gel time and the pot life of the UF resin are measured by the oscillatory viscometer. Formation of the UF cross-linked resin structure with glyoxal and a curing catalyst (ammonium sulfate) is studied using dispersion Raman scattering spectroscopy. Particleboards (PB) are produced using different amount of glyoxal and formaldehyde/urea molar ratio in the UF resin. The properties are evaluated according to the European Standards and include density, internal bond, thickness swelling moisture content and formaldehyde content.