Influence of initial molar ratios on the performance of low molar ratio urea-formaldehyde resin adhesives

In this paper, the influence of initial formaldehyde/urea (F/U) molar ratios on the performance of low molar ratio (1.0) urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin adhesives has been investigated. Two initial F/U molar ratios, i.e., the first and second initial molar ratios were used for the alkaline addition reaction. Three levels of the first initial F/U molar ratios (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0) and two levels of the second initial molar ratios (2.0 and 1.7) were employed to prepare a total of six UF resins with an identical final molar ratio (1.0). The basis properties, functional groups, molecular weight, crystallinity, and thermal curing properties of the UF resins were characterized in detail. Higher levels (3.0 and 4.0) of the first initial F/U molar ratio provided the UF resins with better properties (non-volatile solids content, viscosity, gelation time, pH, and specific gravity) than those of the resins prepared with the conventional level F/U molar ratio of 2.0. Statistical analysis suggested that combining the first and second initial molar ratio of 4.0 with 1.7 would result in UF resins with greater adhesion strength and lower formaldehyde emission than those of the resins prepared with other molar ratios. The results showed that higher levels of the first initial molar ratio resulted in a more branched structure, as indicated by GPC, FTIR, DSC, XRD, and greater adhesion strength than those of the other UF resins with an identical final molar ratio of 1.0.