PERFORMANCE OF MUF RESINS FOR PARTICLEBOARDS BEFORE AND AFTER SPRAY-DRYING

Melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resins can be spray dried to obtain resins in powder form and indefinite shelf-life. Application as particleboard adhesives of such resins after redissolving them in water does yield resins of excellent performance as particleboard adhesives if the natural advancement caused by the heat in the spray-drier chamber is taken into account. CP MAS 13C NMR analysis of the spray-dried resin in powder form and thermomechanical analysis has shown some difference in behaviour in relation to MUF resins of the same level of water tolerance which have not been spray-dried. These small but significant differences can be ascribed to differences in resin structure.