SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ECO- FRIENDLY UREA-FORMALDEHYDE COMPOSITES BASED ON NATURAL CELLULOSE FIBER

Cellulose is the most common structural biological organic compound on Earth which is widely 

used in paper and textile industries and urea-formaldehyde resin is a thermosetting plastic used 

mostly as adhesives for plywood, particleboard and other structured wood products. Natural 

fiber composites are realistic alternatives of glass fiber composites. Using urea-formaldehyde, 

resorcinol-formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde, saturated polyesters as matrixes and natural 

fiber as reinforcement, many thermosetting plastic composites have been manufactured 

commercially.  In this project work, the variation of character of urea formaldehyde resin with 

addition of cellulose extracted from corn husk was tested. Cellulose was extracted from dried 

raw corn (Zea mays) husk, the second largest agricultural crop grown around the world, by 

alkaline treatment (mercerization), followed by neutralization with acid; product of which 

underwent bleaching to produce pure form of cellulose. Urea-formaldehyde (UF) Resin was 

prepared by heating the formaldehyde in paraffin oil bath and adding urea to it until it was 

completely dissolved. Composite of this urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin with the thus produced 

cellulose fibers was prepared by simply adding the calculated amount of cellulose to UF. The 

procedure followed solution casting method. Characterization of pure cellulose was carried out 

by XRD, FTIR and SEM whereas UF/ Cellulose composites were characterized by FTIR, 

compressive strength test and water absorption test. From results of XRD, FTIR and SEM, 

extraction of pure cellulose was affirmed, crystalline nature of cellulose was confirmed and 

particle size of thus obtained cellulose was also determined. By the results of FTIR, compressive 

strength test and water absorption test, it was concluded that addition of cellulose fiber to UF 

resin increases the compressive strength and water absorption of the composite which ultimately 

makes the composite more bio-degradable and eco-friendly.  

Key words: Cellulose, Urea-formaldehyde resin, Composites, Characterization