Preparation and Characterization of Urea/Formaldehyde/Rosa Canina sp. Seeds Composites

Urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin which is one of the most important wood adhesives is a polymeric condensation product of the chemical reaction of formaldehyde with urea, and considered as the most important type of adhesive resins for the production of particleboards. The present study is aimed to preparation and characterization of urea/formaldehyde/Rosa Canina sp. seeds - and urea/formaldehyde/ Rosa Canina sp. seeds/organo clay composites and also to determine the utility as an alternative and low cost material to manufacture particleboard. The synthesis of various composites was carried out using fresh Rosa Canina sp. seeds, typical agricultural waste, in its changing ratios from 7.7 to 83.3 wt%. Also, some of the composite mixtures were prepared by adding organo clay (0.17-3.3 wt%) in a constant ratio of 1/1 wt of urea and formaldehyde. The structural and mechanical characterization of samples was performed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, high resolution transmission electron microscopy images and measurements of Shore D and scratch hardness. The analysis results conclude that organo clay platelets dispersed as simultaneously intercalated and exfoliated in resin matrix and also the increased organo clay ratio led to increase in the hardness values of samples.