UREA FORMALDEHYDE

Urea-formaldehyde, more commonly known as urea-methanal, is named for its structure and common synthesis pathway. Produced with urea and formaldehyde, it creates a non-transparent thermosetting resin or polymer that has become a common component of various products. But let’s go into detail and discuss the properties and uses of urea-formaldehyde resin so you can decide if this is the polymer for you.

Urea-Formaldehyde Properties

First, let’s identify the properties of urea-formaldehyde resin that make it so useful and malleable for an assortment of uses.

• High tensile strength – The maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking.
• High flexural modulus – The ratio of stress to strain that a material can endure while bending before it yields.
• High heat-distortion temperatures – At what temperature the material will begin to “soften” when exposed to a fixed load at elevated temperatures.
• Low water absorption
• Mold shrinkage – When the volume of the molten plastic filled inside the cavity of a mold shrinks during the process of cooling and solidifying.
• High surface hardness
• Elongation at break – The ratio between changed length and initial length after the material breaks.
• Volume resistance – The electrical resistance of a body to a current passing through its bodily substance.
• Contains a refractive index of 1.55