The aim of the work was to determine the effect of agents accelerating the process of polycondensation of PF resins upon the adhesion in the system wood - PF resin by means of measuring the interaction of surface forces. The criteria for estimating the adhesion were as follows: work of adhesion, surface tension at the phase boundary and ratio of polar and disperse shares of the surface tension of wood and resin. The investigations show that classic tannins, commonly used as curing agents and fillers of PF resins in the production of wood-based materials made of veneer, unfavourably affect the adhesion of the resins to wood, especially on the temperature range characteristic for the production of plywood. Hydrogen peroxide, however, behaves in a different manner. In the temperature range 120-160°C it slightly deteriorates the adhesion of resin Fenokol 43 to wood; yet, in increased temperatures, especially with growing pressing times, the adhesion of the resin improves, which may be especially important in the process of pressing particleboards.
This paper presents the preliminary research results of a project whose main objective is to quantify the impact of formulations and technological parameters on formaldehyde content in and emission from particleboards produced using urea-formaldehyde resin with a low molar ratio of F/U. The formaldehyde content reduction is possible by using a resin with a molar ratio of F/U of 1.065 hardened with 3% solution of urea and ammonium nitrate or a resin with a molar ratio of F/U of 0.96 to which 3% urea was added. For these variants, reductions by 22% and 21% respectively of formaldehyde content in particleboards were obtained, while at the same time, strength properties that meet the requirements of the EN-312: 2011 standard for P2 particleboards were maintained.