Effect of surface treatment on bondability of birch veneer with PF resin.

The aim of this work was to study the bondability of birch ( Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) veneer subjected to different surface treatments (chemical treatment, short term thermo-mechanical densification, and combination of these two processes) using phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin with the aim of improving bonding during the production of plywood. Four chemical agents (hydrogen peroxide, aluminium potassium sulphate, potassium carbonate, and potassium permanganate) were used for chemical treatment of the veneer surface. The veneer samples were thermo-mechanically densified between heated plates of a laboratory press. The results revealed that short term thermo-mechanical densification and combined chemical and thermo-mechanical pre-treatment of the veneer surface prior to the resin application reduced the glue spread (a 33% reduction) and improved the bondability of the veneer. The obtained shear strength values for all of the studied treatments exceeded the standard requirements (1·0 MPa), and the properties of the plywood samples satisfied the European standard EN 314-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]