CONTACT ANGLES OF LIQUID ADHESIVES ON OIL PALM TRUNK VENEER SURFACES

摘要

Preliminary measurement was made on initial moisture content, relative density and contact angle of oil palm (Elaeis guinensis) veneers. The 25-years-old of oil palm trunks was peeled into veneer for this study. The initial moisture content was about 7% to 9 %. Meanwhile, specific gravity of oil palm veneers was about 0.30. The wettability tests of oil palm veneers were determined using contact angle measurement using two type of wood panel adhesive; phenol formaldehyde (PF) and urea formaldehyde (UF) resins. They were evaluated for comparison purposes. The comparison between surfaces confirms that the tight surface has higher wettability than the loose surface. The instantaneous and equilibrium contact angles between inner and outer layer of both loose and tight surfaces are similar. Generally, it also quite similar of contact angles between top and bottom portions of oil palm veneers. The percentage of reduction of UF was higher than PF which is 42% and 22% respectively.