BIOLOGICAL RESISTANCE OF PARTICLEBOARD MADE FROM PHENOLIC RESIN-TREATED PARTICLES

Biological resistance of particleboards made from phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin-treated particles was investigated. For the treatment with a low-molecular-weight PF resin, we employed two methods; one was the dipping of particles in aqeous solutions of resin before spraying of the conventional PF resin as an adhesive binder, and the other was an one-step treatment of spraying a mixture of the low-molecular-weight resin and the adhesive resin. Results obtained from accelerated laboratory tests showed that weight losses due to decay and termite attack decreased with increases of incorporated resin loading (IRL) and board density. When the dipping treatment was employed, particleboards of 15% IRL were protected from decay and termite attack regardless of the board density.