{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T17:40:12Z","timestamp":1786470012842,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,2]],"date-time":"2020-11-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1604275200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004955","name":"\u00d6sterreichische Forschungsf\u00f6rderungsgesellschaft","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["865905"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["865905"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004955","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003542","name":"Ministerium f\u00fcr Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Open Access Publishing"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Open Access Publishing"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003542","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Here, we study resin cure and network formation of solid melamine formaldehyde pre-polymer over a large temperature range via dynamic temperature curing profiles. Real-time infrared spectroscopy is used to analyze the chemical changes during network formation and network hardening. By applying chemometrics (multivariate curve resolution, MCR), the essential chemical functionalities that constitute the network at a given stage of curing are mathematically extracted and tracked over time. The three spectral components identified by MCR were methylol-rich, ether linkages-rich and methylene linkages-rich resin entities. Based on dynamic changes of their characteristic spectral patterns in dependence of temperature, curing is divided into five phases: (I) stationary phase with free methylols as main chemical feature, (II) formation of flexible network cross-linked by ether linkages, (III) formation of rigid, ether-cross-linked network, (IV) further hardening via transformation of methylols and ethers into methylene-cross-linkages, and (V) network consolidation via transformation of ether into methylene bridges. The presented spectroscopic\/chemometric approach can be used as methodological basis for the functionality design of MF-based surface films at the stage of laminate pressing, i.e., for tailoring the technological property profile of cured MF films using a causal understanding of the underlying chemistry based on molecular markers and spectroscopic fingerprints.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym12112569","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,2]],"date-time":"2020-11-02T09:04:46Z","timestamp":1604307886000},"page":"2569","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["Unravelling the Phases of Melamine Formaldehyde Resin Cure by Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Multivariate Curve Resolution (MCR)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Weiss","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH, Altenberger Stra\u00dfe 69, 4040 Linz, Austria c\/o Area 3, Klagenfurter Stra\u00dfe 87\u201389, 9300 St. Veit an der Glan, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Regina","family":"Seidl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH, Altenberger Stra\u00dfe 69, 4040 Linz, Austria c\/o Area 3, Klagenfurter Stra\u00dfe 87\u201389, 9300 St. Veit an der Glan, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9707-7308","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Waltraud","family":"Kessler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kessler ProData GmbH, Kaiserstra\u00dfe 66, 72764 Reutlingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rudolf W.","family":"Kessler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kessler ProData GmbH, Kaiserstra\u00dfe 66, 72764 Reutlingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edith M.","family":"Zikulnig-Rusch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kompetenzzentrum Holz GmbH, Altenberger Stra\u00dfe 69, 4040 Linz, Austria c\/o Area 3, Klagenfurter Stra\u00dfe 87\u201389, 9300 St. Veit an der Glan, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9786-964X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas","family":"Kandelbauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lehr und Forschungszentrum Process Analysis and Technology (LFZ PA&amp;T), School of Applied Chemistry, Reutlingen University, Alteburgstra\u00dfe 150, D-72762 Reutlingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pizzi, A., and Mittal, K.L. 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