formaldehyde - Sciencemadness Dot Org

USES OF FORMALDEHYDE
rating solution consists principally of the unpolymerized phenol alcohols.
The water resistance of this wood is far superior to resin impregnated wood.
According to Stamm and Seborg 32 this superiority is due to the following
factors:
(1). The unpolymerized or only partially polymerized phenol reaction
products act as swelling agents and accordingly open up the wood
structure for impregnation.
Courtesy TTesftJififay&se ETeeirk and -U/JK Co. and Modern Pla&ticB.
Fig. 23. Laminated phenolformaldehyde gears fashioned from laminated resin,
(2) The small unpolymerized molecules diffuse into the wood more rapidly
and more completely than polymer molecules.
(3) The small molecules orient themselves in polymerizing so that their
polar groups satisfy a greater number of the points of sorption. Only
a few of the polar groups of preformed resin molecules can fit themselves
into the lattice of the polar groups of the wood.