Quantitative Determination of Phenolic Resins in Particleboard

A method was developed for determining the amount of phenol-formaldehyde or resorcinol-formaldehyde resin in particleboard. The method employs chlorosulfonic acid (CSA) at room temperature to dissolve the wood which is first dried at 100?C. The remaining resin is filtered, washed, dried, and fully cured at 150?C. and then weighed. The resin is cured to bring it to a more reproducible state. With proper care, the resin neither gains weight through sulfonation nor loses weight through dissolution in the CSA. The method fails with urea resins or with phenolic resins cured with ammonium hydroxide since these nitrogen containing resins are dissolved by CSA. The resins come within ? 2 percent of their fully cured weight after drying, treatment with CSA, and final curing. CSA reacts violently with water and methanol. The filtered resin after CSA treatment may be washed cautiously with isopropanol and then dried. This method is useful for determining the phenolic resin in all wood products bonded by such resin. Careful sectioning of the products and determination of the resin can give information on the distribution of the resin.

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