The paper investigates the influence of the alkyl substituent in the alcohol group of esters of organic acids upon their effectiveness as modifiers of phenolic resin used in the production of particleboards. In the course of the research esters of ethyl, butyl and amyl alcohol were used. The modification of the phenolic resin with the applied esters results in the shortening of gel time and decrease in the activation energy of the resin. It also improves the physical and mechanical properties of particleboards. The improvement of the studied properties of particleboards is observed as the length of carbon chain of alcohol substituent and the amount of the introduced ester grow. Best results were obtained for amyl acetate used as a modifier.

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