Thermal degradation and curing kinetic study of urea formaldehyde/l-tyrosine composites

In this study, the prepolymers (TYF) were prepared by formaldehyde and l-tyrosine, different amounts of TYF were added to prepare TYF modified urea-formaldehyde adhesives (LUF), and the gel time of resin, formaldehyde emission and wet shear strength of the plywood were tested. This result indicated that the optimal addition amount was 3 wt%, and the formaldehyde emission of plywood decreased by 23% to 0.57 mg/L, and the wet shear strength increased by 47% to 1.47 MPa. The thermal degradation and curing characteristics of urea-formaldehyde (UF) and LUF resins were characterized by thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the kinetic parameters were analyzed. The results showed that TYF could reduce the formaldehyde emission and improve the wet shear strength significantly. Moreover, the thermal degradation activation energy (Eα) of UF resin was increased, and the thermal stability was enhanced. Although the initial and peak curing temperatures of LUF were higher, but the LUF cured more easily than the UF once the curing temperature was reached.