Physico-Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Thermoplastic Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Modified Thermosetting Urea Formaldehyde Resin

Urea formaldehyde (UF) resins are brittle and to improve their tensile properties poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has been used to modify the UF resin. An easy improved procedure was developed to make PVA modified UF resin on the basis of conventional synthesis of UF resin. Prepolymer of UF was mixed with different weight percentages of PVA (1-5%) to synthesize modified UF resin which can be used to make adhesive for forest products. Both UF and modified UF resins were characterized by FTIR, physico-mechanical and thermal properties analyses. Modified UF resin containing 2 wt. % PVA exhibited better results than the UF.