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POC-3302; No. of Pages 7 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Progress in Organic Coatings xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

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Progress in Organic Coatings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/porgcoat

Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing

Monica Badila a , Christoph Jocham a , Wenbiao Zhang b , Thomas Schmidt c ,
Günter Wuzella a , Uwe Müller a , Andreas Kandelbauer a,d,∗
a
WOOD Carinthian Competence Centre, Klagenfurterstraße 87-89, A-9300, St. Veit an der Glan, Austria
b
Zhejiang Agricultural & Forestry University, School of Engineering, 88, North Circle Rd., Lin‘an, Zhejiang Province, 311300 China
c
TIGER Coatings GmbH & Co. KG, Negrellistraße 36, A-4600 Wels, Austria
d
School of Applied Chemistry, Reutlingen University, Alteburgstraße 150, D-72762 Reutlingen, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The powder coating of veneered particle boards by the sequence electrostatic powder application –
Received 31 July 2013 powder curing via hot pressing is studied in order to create high gloss surfaces. To obtain an appealing
Received in revised form 20 August 2013 aspect, veneer sheets were glued by heat and pressure on top of particle boards and the resulting surfaces
Accepted 12 September 2013
were used as carrier substrates for powder coat finishing. Prior to the powder coating, the veneered
Available online xxx
particle board surfaces were pre-treated by sanding to obtain good uniformity and the boards were
stored in a climate chamber at controlled temperature and humidity conditions to adjust an appropriate
Keywords:
electrical surface resistance. Characterization of surface texture was done by 3D microscopy. The surface
Powder coating
Veneer
electrical resistance was measured for the six veneers before and after their application on the particle
Particle board board surface. A transparent powder top-coat was applied electrostatically onto the veneered particle
Press board surface. Curing of the powder was done using a heated press at 130 ◦ C for 8 min and a smooth,
Curing glossy coating was obtained on the veneered surfaces. By applying different amounts of powder the
Gloss coating thickness could be varied and the optimum amount of powder was determined for each veneer
type.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Engineered wood panels such as medium density fiber boards
(MDF) or particle boards have since long been used as substitutes
for native wood products in many applications because of several
advantages. Since they consist of homogenized, refined particles
or fibers that are glued together with high-performance resins the
technical properties of such panels can be tailored within a wide
range and the resultant products are much less influenced by the
natural inhomogeneity that is observed with a natural material
such as native wood. In addition, the rather low price contributed
to the wide-spread use of such panels in interior design and furni-
ture applications. Besides their low price, these engineered wood
boards also present specific features that recommend them as
building materials: they are flat, rigid, smooth panels that can eas-
ily be processed and thus, show good mechanical stability towards
compression, torsion or shearing stresses. However, for creating
high-value products for the end-users, typically their surfaces must
display an appealing design. Other important issues are the sur-
face resistance against moisture, scratch, impact or dirt. A coating
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: andreas.kandelbauer@reutlingen-university.de
(A. Kandelbauer).
layer that confers the required resistance is usually applied onto
the furniture surface.
Engineered wood is usually coated by melamine formaldehyde
resin impregnated papers yielding decorative laminates, which
represent about 70% of all panels [1]. The remainder is surface fin-
ished by painting, varnishing or veneering [2,3]. Recently, printed
surface designs [4] and the powder coating of engineered wood
products [5–9] have come into the focus of research and develop-
ment.
In light of the increasingly severe regulations imposed by
European legislation regarding the reduction of volatile organic
compounds (VOC) [10], powder coating technology applied to engi-
neered wood has steadily gained in popularity during the past
years. As compared to wet coating, the absence of solvents and the
possibility of practically 100% recycling of the non-adhering pow-
der material after electrostatic spray application makes powder
coating an attractive environmentally friendly alternative which in
many applications is already able to compete with solvent-borne
and water-borne wet coating systems. Studies have shown [11,12]
that some major drawbacks of water-borne coatings applied to
wood are caused by the interaction of water with the wood fiber.
Water produces fiber swelling due to hydration and wet adhesion
is diminished. The swelling of the wood grain results in a finish that
has a rougher feel and appearance. Although with the appropriate
combination of coatings, equipment, and sanding the grain size can

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.09.018

Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.09.018
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be reduced to an acceptable level, still waterborne coatings should
preferably be used only as topcoats instead of fully waterborne sys-
tems. Being solvent-free and 100% solid, powder coating eliminates
any such problems caused by solvents or fiber swelling.
Among other advantages, powder coating allows freedom in
design also with complex shaped three-dimensional objects and
permits the customized coating of consumer items in batch sizes
of one at economically feasible costs.
One major drawback, however, is that with powder coatings, so
far no high-gloss surfaces have been realized.
As such, in the past twenty years powder coating has been
applied in the automotive industry in the coating of metal
parts thereby producing superior durable and environmentally
friendly finishes. In recent years, intense research affords have
been undertaken to transfer this technology to engineered wood,
mainly MDF panels [13,14]. The difficulties encountered in this
technology transfer arise mainly from the limited electrical con-
ductivity, the bad temperature stability, and the unsatisfactory
surface homogeneity of wood-based panels compared to metal
surfaces. Many of the technological issues in the coating of MDF
have been already successfully addressed and the requirements
of MDF powder coating technology is quite well understood
with respect to the substrate (residual moisture content, density
profiles, etc.) and the process (pre-treatment methods, curing pro-
tocols).
However, the powder coating of solid wood materials is not
yet far developed and practically no research work has been pub-
lished in the international scientific literature so far on this subject.
The powder coating of solid wood is technologically much more
demanding than coating MDF since this substrate material due
to its more native, “natural” character is even more inhomoge-
neous and of much less favorable surface texture than is engineered
wood. Further complicating the matter is the potential presence of
volatile compounds or extractives that may interfere with film for-
mation and curing of the powder coating film. Such components
have been removed in the case of engineered wood in the course
of homogenization. Wood veneer is a typical example of a solid
wood-based material that still shows some typical characteristics
of native wood. Wood veneer is frequently applied in the surface
finishing of wood-based panels and, in contrast to paper-based dec-
orative laminates still needs a subsequent coating step which is
currently performed using solvent or water borne paintings. In the
present study, a novel approach to apply powder coatings to wood
veneer surfaces is described.
Typically, special low-temperature curing powder coatings that
were optimized for application onto MDF are either cured in con-
ventional ovens (convective heat transfer) or in infrared ovens
(radiative heat transfer); attempts are made also to apply UV-curing
powder coats. In contrast, in the present study, a completely dif-
ferent approach for the film formation and curing of the powder
coating is pursued. Here, we describe how to create decorative sur-
faces on particle boards using wood veneers whereby the veneer
surface is finished by a powder coating and the curing of the pow-
der coating is achieved by using a heated press. The method is
evaluated for its potential to produce high-gloss powder coated
surfaces.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Veneering of particle boards
For the coating of particle boards six different types of
wood veneers were used: Maple (Acer platanoides), Bamboo
(Phyllostachys pubescens), Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Walnut (Juglans
regia), Oak (Quercus robur) and Wenge (Millettia laurentii). Standard
Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.09.018
commercial particle boards with dimensions of 320 mm × 280 mm
and a thickness of 18.7 mm were used.
The veneer sheets were glued on top of commercial particle
boards using Placol 4507 urea-formaldehyde resin glue (Geistlich
Ligamenta AG, Schlieren, Switzerland). The glue was mixed with
water (glue: water = 2:1 by weight) and was evenly distributed
on the entire particle board surface. The veneer sheet was then
glued onto the particle board surface by heat and pressure using
a SUT-PUK 1600 heated press (Svoboda Umformtechnik GmbH,
Wien, Austria) at a temperature of 70 ◦ C for 360 s and a pressure
of 80 N/cm2 .
The veneered particle boards were sanded on an industrial
automated sanding machine (grit size P150) to improve veneer
uniformity and increase absorbability prior to powder coating. The
boards such prepared were then equilibrated in a climate chamber
(Binder MKF720, BINDER GmbH, Tuttlingen, Germany) at 25 ◦ C/55%
relative humidity.
2.2. Electrical resistance and moisture content measurements
The electrical resistance measurements were performed after
conditioning of the panels according to DIN EN 61340-4-1 [15]
using a teraohmmeter (TO-3, H.-P. FISCHER ELEKTRONIK GmbH &
Co., Mittenwalde, Germany): two cylindrical electrodes were pos-
itioned at a distance of 30 cm and the surface electrical resistance
was determined (absolute value). The test voltage was 250 V.
For additional more detailed studies on the influence of panel
moisture content on the surface electrical resistance of raw veneers
and veneered particle boards, the electrical resistance measure-
ments were carried out directly, immediately after the conditioning
process in the climate chamber.
The moisture content of the veneers was determined after con-
ditioning in accordance with the procedure described by DIN EN
322 [16].
2.3. Electrostatic powder application on veneered particle boards
The powder used in the powder coating of veneered particle
boards was transparent Drylac 530 Series from TIGER Coatings
GmbH & Co. KG, Wels, Austria. Drylac Series 530 is a highly reac-
tive hybrid epoxy/polyester powder coating. Curing is accelerated
by a mixture of catalysts that allow curing times of 3 min at 150 ◦ C
or 5 min at 135 ◦ C which accounts for savings in energy and time.
Due to its rather low curing temperature Drylac Series 530 pow-
der is very much suitable for the coating of temperature-sensitive
substrates such as MDF and wood.
The powder was applied uniformly onto the veneered parti-
cle board surface using a laboratory powder coating spray booth
“Laborkabine Typ 1‘200” with a manual PEM-X1 spray gun with
corona charging connected to a Prima Sprint X digital control
panel. The powder coating equipment was obtained from J. Wagner
GmbH, Markdorf, Germany.
2.4. Hot pressing
To avoid powder coating sticking problems, the high gloss press
plate was treated with release agent Frekote 770NC from Henkel,
using a soft cloth. Three release agent coats were applied on the
high-gloss press plate before pressing. The waiting time between
treatments was 5 min for the release agent to dry.
The powder was melted and cured at a temperature of 130 ◦ C
for 8 min and a press force of 64 N/cm2 , using the SUT-PUK 1600
heated press from Svoboda Umformtechnik GmbH, Vienna, Austria.
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2.5. Polishing process
Polishing was done in order to improve surface uniformity
and to test if gloss can be further improved. Fine polishing paper
was used with grit P1500 and P2000 “Super Assilex, Orange”
from Kovax. Final polishing was done with the polishing paste
“Polyshine” from Argotec GmbH (Esslingen, Germany) which was
applied using a lamb fur. The surface was cleaned with soap water
then dried.
2.6. Gloss
Gloss measurements were performed with a Novo Gloss Trio
device from Rhopoint Instruments Limited, UK, at an angle of 20◦ ,
before and after polishing. The final gloss value was calculated as
an average from five individual measurements.
2.7. Surface topography and roughness measurements
The three-dimensional morphology of the samples was mea-
sured before and after powder coating using the 3D - optical
microscope Infinite Focus (Alicona Imaging GmbH, Graz, Austria)
at five-fold magnification, with a vertical resolution of 1 ␮m and
a measurement area of 10 × 10 mm2 . The surface morphology was
than examined using the software IFM 2.0-1 from Alicona Imaging
GmbH (Graz, Austria). As texture indicators, the amplitude parame-
ters Sa (average roughness), Sv (max valley depth), Sz (max height)
and the functional parameter Svk (reduced valley depth) were con-
sidered (primary profile).
2.8. Adhesion
Cross-cut tests were done to evaluate the surface stability
against mechanical damage. The degree of exterior layer delamina-
tion is assessed using the European Standard ISO 2409:2007 [17],
on a scale from 0 to 5. When the edges of the cut are completely
smooth without any detachment of the coating, the cross-cut test
scored a value of 0. For a high extent of flaking and delamination,
the cross-cut test yielded a value of 5, which represents the worst
rating.
2.9. Coating thickness measurements
Coating thickness was measured in cross-section for each
sample, using a stereomicroscope (Zeiss Stemi 2000-C). The cross-
section was produced by cutting the sample vertically with a
circular saw in order to expose all the layers: particle board, veneer
and powder coating.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characterization of wood-veneer coating substrate
3.1.1. Wood veneer surface structure
Wood is a heterogeneous, cellular, anisotropic, and hygroscopic
material that easily adsorbs and desorbs water to eventually stabi-
lize a dynamic moisture exchange equilibrium. Wood is composed
of cells, and the cell walls are composed of micro-fibrils of cellulose
(40–60%) and hemicellulose (6–27%) that confer wood its strength.
The fibers are impregnated with and held together by lignin as the
natural binder (18–41%) [18].
Every wood type has a distinctive grain structure. Wood species
such as oak, and walnut have “open-pores”. These wood types are
characterized by small holes in their surface that result in a three-
dimensionally textured surface. In diffuse-porous woods the pores
are evenly sized so that the water conducting capability is scattered
Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
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3
throughout the growth ring instead of being collected in a band or
row. The types of wood veneers used in the present study were
selected as to represent a wide range of different morphologies to
gain a representative overview about the principle powder coata-
bility of solid wood-based materials. Table 1 summarizes some
relevant information on the various wood species used. It is seen
that the density of the used veneers and, in turn, their porosity var-
ied within a wide range from 0.3 to close to 1 g cm−3 . Also, the fine
structure of the pores varied from very tiny and almost invisible
pores (e.g., beech wood) to very large ones (e.g., wenge).
Surface roughness of the coating substrate is very important and,
in case of solid wood surfaces, can strongly be influenced by var-
ious factors such as cross grain, annual ring width, ratio of early
wood and late wood, rays, knots, juvenile and mature wood and
specific cell structures. Tight grained woods include maple and
beech; hence, for instance, these woods are smooth to the touch
and, therefore, should allow for an even finishing with powder
coating films.
The evaluation of surface roughness plays an important role in
predicting surface performance and in monitoring the manufactur-
ing process. Literature studies showed that the strength of glued
wooden materials and other mechanical properties of wood prod-
ucts depend on surface roughness [19]. Rough veneer can reduce
bond quality by as much as one-third compared to smooth veneer
[20]. Also, studies show that smooth surfaces need relatively little
paint for coverage, and paint performance is improved [21]. There-
fore, in the present study, before powder coating experiments were
carried out, the surface smoothness of the veneer substrates was
determined using 3D microscopy. Analysis of the surface topogra-
phy by 3D microscopy offers important information regarding the
roughness, primary profile, waviness and porosity of a substrate
and is a useful tool in the analysis of surfaces before coating. To
study the influence of surface topography and surface roughness
of the coating substrate on the final coating quality, the surface
textures of both the raw veneer sheets and the veneered particle
boards after lamination were compared to the surface topogra-
phy of the powder coated veneered particle boards. Besides the
frequently used roughness parameters of a surface the arithmetic
average deviation (Sa) of the vertical irregularities and the maxi-
mum height of the characterized area (Sz) additional parameters
which characterize the wood pores, in addition, the maximum val-
ley height (Sv) and the mean depth of the valleys below the core
material (Svk) were also considered for each veneer surface. The
surface topographic descriptors obtained from 3D microscopy for
the various types of wood veneer used are summarized in Table 1.
The corresponding values describing the surface texture of the
powder coated samples are summarized in Table 4.
Before the powder coating is applied there is a high variation
among the different coating substrates within the different surface
parameters when comparing the different wood species due to dif-
ferent proportion and distribution of the pores. For example, the
oak veneer surface is characterized by dominant long deep pores
reflected by the high surface parameter values whereas the low
values recorded for maple veneer surface indicate a smooth surface.
3.1.2. Wood veneer electrical resistance
In the powder coating of non-metal substrates, one crucial
parameter of the coating substrate is its surface electrical resis-
tance. From literature it is known that besides the moisture content
at the moment of powder application, the electrical properties of
wood can be strongly influenced by the wood type. For instance, it
was empirically shown that pine wood has a lower electrical resis-
tance than fir [22]. Further, oak was found to have a lower electrical
resistance than both of these coniferous woods analyzed. The lower
electrical resistance was attributed to the lower pH, higher density
and different wood structure of oak.
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Table 1
Characteristics of the wood types used in our study.

Wood type Pore size Density Surface texture parameters Practical features
(g/cm3 ) (air
dried)

Sa (␮m) Sv (␮m) Sz (␮m) Svk (␮m)

Maple Diffuse, evenly sized, fine texture 0.6–0.75 6.7 70.2 119.8 13.3 Hard, resistant to shock
Beech Tiny, almost invisible, very fine texture 0.7–0.9 7.3 103.4 211.5 11.8 Hard, strong, heavy, flexible
Oak Large open-pore, coarse texture 0.6–0.9 16.8 282.3 405.3 107.5 Heavy, strong, prominent grain
Walnut Medium-sized pores 0.65–0.7 9.0 158.8 211.2 45.6 Strong, hard and durable
Wenge Very large pores, very coarse texture 0.8–0.9 17.2 261.7 301.6 125.3 Moderate hardness and resistance
Bamboo Open-pore, coarse texture 0.3–0.4 9.5 145.2 241.0 40.5 Sturdy, strong, hard, great tensile strength

Table 2
Moisture values (U) for different types of veneers at varying relative humidity (RH).

Veneer type

Climate UMaple (%) UBamboo (%) UBeech (%) UOak (%) UWalnut (%) UWenge (%)
(◦ C/% RH)

25/30 7.3 5.7 7.0 8.0 8.7 7.2

25/40 8.3 6.9 8.1 9.6 9.8 8.3
25/50 8.8 7.1 8.8 9.9 10.4 8.6
25/60 95 7.9 9.2 10.7 10.7 9.6

Table 3
Surface electrical resistance (R) at 25 ◦ C and varying relative humidity for raw veneers and veneered particle boards.

Veneer type

Climate RMaple () RBamboo () RBeech () ROak () RWalnut () RWenge ()
(◦ C/%RH)

25/30 5.61 × 1011 1.66 × 1011 5.83 × 1011 1.073 × 1011 5.33 × 1011 1.41 × 1011
25/40 1.85 × 1011 2.70 × 1011 1.99 × 1011 2.90 × 1011 2.69 × 1011 2.80 × 1011
25/50 1.01 × 1011 1.45 × 1010 8.43 × 1010 2.033 × 1010 1.39 × 1011 1.86 × 1010
25/60 5.46 × 1010 5.83 × 109 6.16 × 1010 1.60 × 1010 9.16 × 1010 6.50 × 109
Veneered particle board
25/30 6.53 × 1010 7.40 × 1010 4.76 × 1010 4.00 × 1010 6.00 × 1010 4.13 × 1010
25/40 2.13 × 1010 1.76 × 1010 2.06 × 1010 1.86 × 1010 2.20 × 1010 1.70 × 1010
25/50 1.59 × 1010 1.36 × 1010 1.31 × 1010 1.26 × 1010 1.86 × 1010 1.29 × 1010
25/60 6.86 × 109 4.83 × 109 6.29 × 109 6.06 × 109 7.90 × 109 5.66 × 109

Studies that were mainly performed on medium density fiber- coating step. Therefore, in the next step, the values for the sur-
boards (MDF) have shown that for the successful electrostatic face electrical resistance of the raw veneers were compared to the
powder application onto wood-based substrates an electrical sur- surface electrical resistance of veneered particle boards. The val-
face resistance below 1011  is required [23–26]. Since moisture ues for electrical resistance of veneers and laminated veneers are
content and electrical resistance need carefully be controlled, these presented in Table 3.
parameters were measured at 25 ◦ C and varying relative humid- Upon comparison of the surface electrical resistance values at
ity (30, 40, 50 and 60%) [27,28]. The moisture content values are 25 ◦ C/50% relative humidity for the raw veneers before laminating
summarized in Table 2. to those of the veneer surfaces that were laminated onto the par-
As expected, for all wood species studied, the moisture content ticle boards (Fig. 2) it can be observed that in general the electrical
is increasing with relative humidity and the desired moisture con-
tent can be adjusted by tuning the relative humidity under defined
climatization conditions. Since for powder deposition the electrical
resistance is of immediate importance, the influence of the mois-
ture content on the electrical resistance has been investigated in
more detail. Fig. 1 shows the dependence of veneer surface electri-
cal resistance on moisture content and veneer type.
It was observed that for all veneer types the surface electrical
resistance decreases with increasing moisture content. This is in
agreement with the work of Dunky and Niemz [29] who found that
the electrical resistance of pine wood decreases with increasing rel-
ative humidity. It can also be observed that the electrical resistance
is strongly influenced by the wood species. The findings are also in
agreement with similar results obtained for MDF panels [25].
However, since the laminating step in which the raw veneer
sheets are glued on top of the carrier boards may significantly
change the surface properties of the raw veneers due to the expo-
sure to heat and pressure during hot pressing, these values may not Fig. 1. Dependence of surface electrical resistance on veneer moisture content and
be suitable for discussing the efficiency of the subsequent powder veneer type.

Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
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Table 4
Coating parameters and results of the tests (Code: . . . 1 L → “one-coat low”; . . . 1 H → “one-coat high”; . . . 2 → “2-coat”).

Code Wood Nr. of Coating Coating Coating Adhesion Surface texture parameters Gloss
species coating Layer 1 Layer 2 thickness ISO2409
layers (g/m2 ) (g/m2 ) (␮m)

Sa (␮m) Sv (␮m) Sz (␮m) Svk (␮m) Gloss after Gloss after

hot press polish

A1L Maple 1 100 – 75 1 6.7 89.6 119.9 11.0 62.4 55.7

A1H Maple 1 176 – 123 0 5.3 110.3 131.5 4.1 57.3 21
A2 Maple 2 185 179 286 0 8.0 25.6 55.5 4.3 30.8 43.1
B1L Bamboo 1 103 – 64 1 7.3 78.8 109.9 4.6 52.6 42.7
B1H Bamboo 1 184 – 136 0 6.7 88.2 120.4 5.7 69.1 47.8
B2 Bamboo 2 183 179 285 0 5.6 20.9 47.5 4.8 33.8 49.1
Bu1L Beech 1 105 – 37 0 9.6 83.4 135.8 6.4 59.9 24.1
Bu1H Beech 1 177 – 102 0 7.5 107.9 133.2 5.9 77.4 38.4
Bu2 Beech 2 184 73 186 0 5.9 21.6 50.6 5.2 27.5 51.4
E1L Oak 1 106 – 79 0 6.0 99.3 172.9 11.2 56 36,2
E1H Oak 1 174 – 132 0 5.2 84.5 104.2 2.9 64.8 48.3
E2 Oak 2 185 173 263 0 5.3 21.5 44.9 4.4 28.1 49.7
N1L Walnut 1 106 – 79 1 7.3 89.8 113.3 6.5 59.2 43.9
N1H Walnut 1 184 – 136 1 6.6 110.0 140.2 5.8 74.7 29.7
N2 Walnut 2 187 83 186 0 7.9 22.0 58.0 3.7 27.9 31.5
W1L Wenge 1 102 – 56 1 6.2 82.3 105.4 5.5 63.8 38.5
W1H Wenge 1 184 –- 124 1 6.4 135.9 154.7 5.0 69.4 27.9
W2 Wenge 2 176 179 240 1 8.2 26.7 55.1 3.5 25.7 43.9
N1Hp Walnut Polished 7.8 25.6 51.8 5.7
sample (for
compari-
son with
N 1 H)

resistance is higher for the raw veneers than that of the correspond-
ing veneered particle boards. One reason might be that the particle
board influences the electrical surface resistance of the veneered
panels by representing a moisture sink. However, it seems more
likely that under the applied pressing conditions, water is being
evaporated and the drier veneer surface in turn suffers a loss in
electrical conductivity. This effect is pronounced differently for dif-
ferent kinds of wood. From Table 3 it can be seen that the electrical
resistance values are significantly higher for the raw veneers of
maple, beech and walnut around 1011  than those for bamboo,
oak and wenge. This corresponds to some extent to the morpho-
logical features and moisture absorption values measured. The
latter two veneer types (wenge and oak) possess comparatively
rather large pores which allows for greater initial water absorp-
tion and water holding capacity [30] which should, in turn, yield
greater initial electrical conductivity. Upon lamination, it is most
likely that this conductivity-conferring water content is removed
under hot-pressing conditions. However, this explanation may be
too simplified since bamboo with its rather open-porous structure
displays the comparatively lowest water absorption values in the
present set of veneers. Hence, other factors like composition of
wood species will certainly play a role as well.
The laminating press exerts some kind of leveling effect on the
surface resistance of particle boards veneered with sheets from dif-
ferent wood species since all values of electrical resistance for the
veneered particle boards are in the order of magnitude of about
1010 . This observation is considered to be technologically of
interest because it points towards the possibility of powder coat-
ing veneered particleboards in general since all values were less
than the critical value of 1011  and, furthermore, that because
of lamination, this principle powder coatability is more or less
independent of the wood type. Hence, it should be much less prob-
lematic in general to apply powder coating technology to veneered
particle boards or even plywood, since a similar gluing and press-
ing step is involved in the fusion of stacks of several layers of wood
veneer to form plywood, than it should be when it is attempted to
powder coat native wood pieces.
3.2. Characterization of powder coated veneered boards
In the coating experiments, a transparent top coat powder was
used. The powder was applied electrostatically on the veneered
particle board surfaces and melting and curing of the powder was
done in the heated press, creating thus the coating layer.
Three different amounts of powder were used on each type of
wood veneer in order to evaluate the efficiency of coating layer
build-up in dependence on the used veneer type. The thicknesses
and quality of the achieved coating films were used as an indicator
for the powder coatability of the veneer: the coatability was judged
as being the better the less powder had to be applied in order to
achieve a defect-free, smooth surface film.

Fig. 2. Microscope photo: different layer thicknesses on powder coated walnut veneered particle boards.

Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
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Fig. 3. Coating results of different coated veneered particle boards; (1). . .Maple; (2). . .Bamboo; (3). . .Beech; (4). . .Oak; (5). . .Walnut; (6). . .Wenge.
The coating experiments resulted in largely varying coating
thicknesses for each veneer type. Fig. 2 shows the example of pow-
der coated walnut veneered particle board with varying coating
thicknesses: “one-coat low” - where a powder amount of 106 g/m2
was applied resulting in a coating thickness of 79 ␮m upon hot
pressing, one coat with higher powder amount named “one-coat
high” where 184 g/m2 powder was applied resulting in a final cured
coating thickness of 136 ␮m and a third case “2-coat”, where the
application of a powder amount double as compared to “one-coat
low” was intended. In the case of walnut the amount of powder that
was electrostatically applied in the 2-coat system was of 270 g/m2
and the coating thickness obtained was 186 ␮m.
Due to the powder coating process the veneer pores are filled
by the powder coating, reducing to a minimum the variation of the
surface texture parameter values, as smooth surfaces are obtained
after powder coating and curing for all veneer types.
In the case of the one-coat low system for oak, walnut and espe-
cially wenge the finished surface was not completely homogenous
and smooth. The powder coating layer used in the one-coat-low
system was, indeed, too thin and the larger pores of these veneers
still appeared as small valleys in the coating surface. The results of
coating tests for the analyzed substrates as well as surface quality
results such as gloss and adhesion are accumulated in Table 4.
Gloss values were influenced by the coating thickness. The two-
coat tests resulted in coating thicknesses above 180–200 ␮m and
a significantly reduced gloss for all six types of veneered particle
boards. A foggy appearance was observed with all two-coat tests.
The highest gloss (after press) was obtained with “one-coat
high” systems that led to medium coating thickness in the range
100–140 ␮m, for all six veneer types (Fig. 3). Comparatively glossy
Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.09.018
surfaces [31] were obtained, with gloss values around 65–75 gloss
units.
Polishing of the coated boards was done in an attempt to
improve uniformity and increase surface gloss. It was, however,
observed that due to the polishing process gloss was decreased
for all the surfaces treated. Instead, a soft-feel surface effect was
obtained.
Adhesion of the coating to the substrate was tested using the
cross-cut method. In the coating thickness range investigated here
from 37–286 ␮m, adhesion was very good for all coating thick-
nesses and for all six veneer types.
4. Conclusion
Powder coating was successfully carried out on veneered par-
ticle boards using six types of wood veneers: maple, bamboo,
beech, oak, walnut and wenge. Moisture content of the wood sub-
strates could be tuned by varying relative humidity using a climate
chamber. The substrates were tested to determine surface electri-
cal resistance and moisture content at 25 ◦ C and varying relative
humidity conditions. It was found that electrical resistance val-
ues are influenced by moisture content and by wood type. As such,
the surface electrical resistance values are significantly higher for
maple, beech and walnut raw veneers, around 1011 , while for
bamboo, oak, wenge, as well as for the veneered particle boards the
values are around 1010 , indicating suitable substrates for electro-
static powder application. The limiting surface resistance of 1011 
required for the successful powder-coating that was documented
in earlier studies performed on MDF substrates was found to apply
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also as good measure to predict the powder coatability of wood
veneers.
The appealing glossy and mechanically resistant surfaces on
wood veneers were created by melting and curing of the electro-
statically applied Drylac 530 transparent powder layer at 130 ◦ C
and 8 minutes, in hot pressing. Veneer surface was thoroughly char-
acterized by Alicona 3D microscopy. The different veneer types
showed different topography characteristics regarding roughness,
porosity and absorbability that were reflected in the powder coat-
ing results. Results show that glossy surfaces with gloss values
measured at 20◦ in the range 65–75 gloss units can be achieved
by powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces followed
by hot press curing. The optimum amount of powder specific for
each wood type in order to create glossy high quality surface
was identified. Surface quality tests showed that optimal results
were obtained with one coat and a coating thicknesses around
100–140 ␮m for all six veneer types. The approach used in the
present study involved appropriate conditioning of the coating sub-
strate prior to the powder coating and hot pressing steps. This
procedure seems industrially feasible to implement and similar
approaches have been tested successfully already in the case of
MDF panel substrates. Although the surface finished panels pro-
duced in the present study were rather small test panels of size
320 × 280 mm, the described approach is, in principle, not limited
to any specific pressing format. The maximum pressing format with
the laboratory scale press would be 550 × 450 mm and it should be
possible to apply the process also to panels on an industrial scale,
where a typical pressing format of 2800 × 1850 mm is used.
By using three-dimensionally shaped tools during the hot press-
ing step, composite materials of other geometries than flat surfaces
can, in principle, be produced. In the case of the veneer coated par-
ticle boards described in the present study, however, one is limited
to flat surface profiles since no complex geometries may be formed
from this substrate geometry. The present study demonstrates that
the solid wood-based materials like wood veneers can successfully
be powder coated to yield surfaces of satisfactory property profile.
It can be assumed, that similar surfaces based on plywood might as
well be accessible to powder coating technology. Plywood-based
materials could, to some extent, even be produced in geometri-
cal shapes that deviate from plain flat surfaces. Using appropriate
pressing tools, in principle, with such substrates, hence, even more
complex three-dimensionally shaped materials could be surface
finished by powder coats using the technology presented in this
study. Consequently, future studies will focus on the process adap-
tation of powder technology to plywood.
Please cite this article in press as: M. Badila, et al., Powder coating of veneered particle board surfaces by hot pressing, Prog. Org. Coat.
(2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2013.09.018
7
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