Wood pulp fiber reinforced melamine-formaldehyde composites

Composite sheets reinforced with wood pulp fibers were produced using Melamine formaldehyde (MF) resins for investigating the basic mechanical properties of the composites. The MF-impregnated sheets were cured at a temperature of 120°C in a hot press for 10 minutes under a pressure of 20 MPa to obtain a white to yellowish composite sheets of 1.2 mm thickness with a density of 1.4 g/cm3. It was found that there was no significant difference between vacuum treated and non-vacuum treated samples. MF possesses good compatibility with cellulosic fibers, and composites with pulp sheets, available in large quantity and size, and are easily produced by vacuum impregnation and compression molding.