THE TEA LEAVES AS A FILLER FOR UF RESIN PLYWOOD PRODUCTION

Abstract

The addition of green tea leaves fractions < 0.315 mm as a filler to urea-formaldehyde resin to reduction of emission of formaldehyde from three-layer birch plywood was investigated. Moreover, other properties such as bonding quality and water resistance of plywood were investigated. It was found that green tea had an ability to absorb formaldehyde. This phenomenon was caused by phenolic compounds contained in green tea leaves. The addition of green tea in the amount of 20% and 25% resulted in a decrease in formaldehyde emission from plywood comparing to the reference sample. The bonding quality test showed that the addition of tea leaves as a filler did not affect the strength properties of the tested bond lines.