Thermoplastic films exhibit good potential to be used as adhesives for the production of veneer-based composites. This work presents the first effort to develop and evaluate composites based on alder veneers and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) film. The effects of hot-pressing temperature (140, 160, and 180 °C), hot-pressing pressure (0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 MPa), hot-pressing time (1, 2, 3, and 5 min), and type of adhesives on the physical and mechanical properties of alder plywood panels were investigated. The effects of these variables on the core-layer temperature during the hot pressing of multiplywood panels using various adhesives were also studied. Three types of adhesives were used: urea–formaldehyde (UF), phenol–formaldehyde (PF), and HDPE film. UF and PF adhesives were used for the comparison. The findings of this work indicate that formaldehyde-free HDPE film adhesive gave values of mechanical properties of alder plywood panels that are comparable to those obtained with traditional UF and PF adhesives, even though the adhesive dosage and pressing pressure were lower than when UF and PF adhesives were used. The obtained bonding strength values of HDPE-bonded alder plywood panels ranged from 0.74 to 2.38 MPa and met the European Standard EN 314-2 for Class 1 plywood. The optimum conditions for the bonding of HDPE plywood were 160 °C, 0.8 MPa, and 3 min.
The potential of using ground birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) bark as an eco-friendly additive in urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesives for plywood manufacturing was investigated in this work. Five-ply plywood panels were fabricated in the laboratory from beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) veneers bonded with UF adhesive formulations comprising three addition levels of birch bark (BB) as a filler (10%, 15%, and 20%). Two UF resin formulations filled with 10% and 20% wheat flour (WF) were used as reference samples. The mechanical properties (bending strength, modulus of elasticity and shear strength) of the laboratory-fabricated plywood panels, bonded with the addition of BB in the adhesive mixture, were evaluated and compared with the European standard requirements (EN 310 and EN 314-2). The mechanical strength of the plywood with the addition of BB in the adhesive mixture is acceptable and met the European standard requirements. Markedly, the positive effect of BB in the UF adhesive mixture on the reduction of formaldehyde emission from plywood panels was also confirmed. Initially, the most significant decrease in formaldehyde release (up to 14%) was measured for the plywood sample, produced with 15% BB. After four weeks, the decrease in formaldehyde was estimated up to 51% for the sample manufactured with 20% BB. The performed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), also confirmed the findings of the study. As this research demonstrated, BB as a waste or by-product of wood processing industry, can be efficiently utilized as an environmentally friendly, inexpensive alternative to WF as a filler in UF adhesive formulations for plywood manufacturing.
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