Influence of modified graphite on formaldehyde emission from medium density fiberboard ( MDF)

In this study, the effect of graphite and two modified graphite materials in reducing formaldehyde emission of medium density fiberboard (MDF) was investigated. For this purpose, expanded graphite (EG) was syntesyzed from graphite (G) and modified expanded graphite (MnO2-EG) was produced through the intercalation process of expanded graphite with manganese dioxide. Thus, three graphite materials were prepared for resin treatment. Molecular tests including X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) were performed to determine their molecular properties,. In addition, the differential scanning caliber test (DSC) test was performed to evaluate the thermal behavior of the resin under the influence of these graphite materials as additive. The additives were added to urea formaldehyde resin at three levels of consumption of 1, 2 and 3%, and then medium density fiberboard (MDF) with a density of 750 kg/m3 was made from glued fibers. After making the board, the formaldehyde emission test was performed by desiccator method. Overall, MnO2-EG showed better results than control and two other graphite treatments. The best performance was resulted by MnO2-EG at level 3% so that reduced formaldehyde emission by about 61%. It seams the formaldehyde molecules absorbed into the expanded graphite layers were exposed to oxidation by manganese dioxide molecules. On the other hand, as the DSC test showed, the highest anthalopy reaction occurred in resin treated by MnO2-EG, indicating an increase in the reaction of formaldehyde molecules in the resin structure.