Preparation of Wood-Based Panel Composites with Poplar Veneer as the Surface Layer Modified by In-Situ Polymerization of Active Monomers

Abstract

Wood-based panels covered by melamine-impregnated paper are widely used in floors and furniture, due to its good surface texture, hardness, wear resistance, and waterproof function. However, there are still some problems, such as formaldehyde release from the impregnated resin, non-wood touch, and complex preparation processes. Therefore, this study designed glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), combined with maleic anhydride (MAN) as a reactive catalyst, to build an active monomers system. It was first impregnated into poplar veneers, and then in-situ polymerized within the veneer using a hot pressing process, which realized the gluing of the veneer onto the wood-based panel substrate, synchronously. Such treatment aims to obtain wood-based panel composites decorated by the modified veneer, with real solid wood touch feeling, satisfied surface properties, and environment friendly glue bonding. The results indicated that the optimized reaction ratio of the active monomers (GMA:EGDMA) was 2:1 (molar ratio), and the maleic anhydride addition accounted for 6 wt.% of the total monomers. Under the optimized hot pressing condition, the modified veneer closely bonded to the wood-based panel substrate without obvious interfacial gaps. The hardness, abrasion resistance, modulus of rupture, and water resistance of the composites were significantly improved. Such results indicate that the treatment realized the perfect merging of solid wood touch feeling, environment friendly feature, and excellent properties of the composite. It was highly expected to replace the traditional melamine-impregnated paper to decorate wood-based panels, and could be potentially applied as surface decorating materials in wide areas of desktop, floor, cupboard, wardrobe, and so on.

Effect of Veneer Initial Moisture Content on the Performance of Polyethylene Film Reinforced Decorative Veneer

“…Wood-based panels have been widely developed as alternative materials for furniture manufacturing, structure building board, and interior parts in cars because of their stable physical properties, wide sources of raw materials, and good use effect [1][2][3]. To improve the surface appearance and color of the wood-based panel, a sliced decorative veneer with a thickness of 0.05~0.8 mm produced from naturally beautiful precious wood is usually employed to overlay on the panels' surface [4][5][6]. However, the flexibility of decorative veneer is generally poor, and its transverse tensile strength is low, making it not easy to store and transport [7].…”

Manufacturing and Interfacial Bonding Behavior of EVA Film Reinforced Flexible Decorative Veneer

“…Wood-based composites have been widely developed as alternative materials for furniture manufacturing or structure building board because of their stable physical properties and wide sources of raw materials (Zheng et al 2021;Lee et al 2011;Gao et al 2020). In order to obtain decorative and high value-added wood products, a sliced veneer with a thickness of 0.05$0.8 mm prepared from naturally precious wood is usually employed to overlay on the surface of wood-based panels (Guo et al 2018;Yu et al 2020;Zhang et al 2020;Wang et al 2020). Common precious tree species included Manchurian ash, oak, elm, black walnut, maple, teak, red sandalwood, and all the rest of it.…”

Application of Failure Criteria on Plywood under Bending

“…Plywood is a very common and long-used building material. It can be made from veneers of different tree species, which affects the physical and mechanical properties of plywood [4][5][6][7][8]. Important factors influencing the properties of plywood include design features such as the number, thickness and orientation of individual layers and the technological process of panel production [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”