1. Manufacture of urea-formaldehyde
While manufacturers can mass-produce urea-formaldehyde resins relatively cheaply, the process itself seems a bit complicated. They first make urea from carbon dioxide and ammonia at temperatures of 135 to 200 degrees Celsius and pressures of 70 to 230 atmospheres. They then make formaldehyde by reacting carbon dioxide with hydrogen or oxidizing methanol by extracting it from petroleum. Petroleum is the form gasoline existed before people refined it into usable gas.
When urea and formaldehyde are combined, branched and linear polymers and a three-dimensional matrix are formed in the resulting cured resin. The functions of urea and formaldehyde are responsible for the formation of these structures. Urea has four functionalities due to four replaceable hydrogen atoms, while formaldehyde has two functionalities. There are also factors in the manufacturing process that affect the characteristics of the final product. These effects are:
Relative molarity, reactants, reaction temperature, pH at which condensation occurs
2. The use of urea-formaldehyde resin
Urea-formaldehyde resins have a unique thermosetting property that allows them to fit into oddly shaped and confined spaces. Example: toilet seat. More relevant than ever to COVID-19 vaccines, urea-formaldehyde acts as a preservative in medical products such as vaccines. This function of urea-formaldehyde is critical because it inactivates the virus in the vaccine so your body experiences and learns how to fight the disease without it actually taking root and causing it.
