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Abstract
One of the important characteristics of the thermosetting resins such as urea-formaldehyde resin is the cure property. This is an invaluable characteristic for determining the processing capabilities of the resin. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements are ideally suited to achieve this end. This paper presents the results of the effect of process variables on the enthalpy of cure of a low formaldehyde emission UF resin prepared by a four-stage process as described in the text. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design and the analyze the experiments. Urea (U) was added to the reaction mixture according to a pre-determined program of varying the number of additions and the duration between the additions during the second stage of the process. A mathematical relationship between the process variables and enthalpy of cure was established. The urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin was prepared under optimum conditions. Experiments were performed with the resin so prepared to determine the energy of activation of the curing reaction catalyzed by ammonium chloride.