In this master thesis, the differential scanning calorimetry was used to investigate curing of the melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resin with the addition of three different types of nanocellulose: nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), TEMPO-oxidized NFC (TNFC) and lignocellulose nanofibrils (LCNF). A 40% concentration of ammonium sulfate was used as catalyst. The samples were crosslinked in 100 μl and 40 μl aluminum pans at different heating rates. In addition, several different types and concentrations of nanocelluloses were added. We found that the MUF resin crosslinked to a greater extent with NFC than with TNFC. Regardless of the additive and the type of nanocellulose added, almost identical onset temperatures and times as well as the peak temperature (Tmax) reached were recorded with the MUF resin with catalyst. Lignocellulose nanofibrils (LCNF), however, did not show any exothermic signals with the selected catalyst, so that they were no longer used for crosslinking with the MUF resin. The cured samples were also tested by FT-IR infrared spectroscopy. We did not notice any differences in the FT-IR spectra between the MUF, MUF/NFC and MUF/TNFC samples. The concentration of methylene-ether and methylene bridges between MUF and NFC/TNFC seems to be too low for identification with this method.
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