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Article
Publication date: 7 September 2012

S. Jahanshaei, T. Tabarsa and J. Asghari

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an eco‐friendly tannin‐phenol formaldehyde resin (PFT) applicable in the wood composite industry.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of an eco‐friendly tannin‐phenol formaldehyde resin (PFT) applicable in the wood composite industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The bark of oak (Quercus castaneifolia) contains a large amount of condensed tannin. Condensed tannin, with a large amount of Catechol groups was considered for reducing the formaldehyde emission level on the adhesive system. Physical characteristics of synthesized PFT resin were evaluated.

Findings

For optimal extraction, three solvents were used in the extraction process. The results showed that a mixture of water‐methanol (1:1 v/v) as extracting solvent is the best solvent and yields about 14 per cent tannin based on dry weight of bark. For producing tannin phenol formaldehyde adhesive, 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent (based on PF dry weight) of PF, substituted with natural extracted tannin. For evaluating PFT performance effects of percentage amount of substitution tannin content on the gel time, viscosity, pH, and density of adhesives were evaluated. Based on emission test (JIS A 1460‐2001) formaldehyde emission of PFT 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 30 per cent were 1.13, 1.12 and 0.4 mg/100 g, which is very low compared with tannin‐free PF.

Research limitations/implications

Tannin‐PF adhesive compared to PF adhesive had lower PH, higher viscosity and shorter gel time.

Practical implications

The method developed provides a simple and excellent renewable resource “tannin” which can be used or partially substituted in phenol formaldehyde adhesive.

Originality/value

Results showed that replacing PF for tannin reduces modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) slightly but has significant effects on IB, water absorption and thickness swelling.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. 41 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Altaf Halim Basta, Houssni El-Saied, Amin Mahmoud Baraka and Vivian Fayez Lotfy

The purpose of this research paper focused on studying the role of activated carbons (ACs), which were synthesized from long-chain aldehyde-based xerogels (Xs-AC), as benefit…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper focused on studying the role of activated carbons (ACs), which were synthesized from long-chain aldehyde-based xerogels (Xs-AC), as benefit additives to enhance the application of a low-cost urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive for production of rice straw (RS) composites complying with both the standard specifications of particle-board type and the board produced from using conventional adhesive of RS fibers (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, MDI). The results are supported by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis, which indicated the curing and interaction of RS fibers with the adhesive systems.

Design/methodology/approach

RS-based composites of particle-board type were prepared from applying new Xs-AC–UF adhesive systems to RS particles. For comparison, particle boards by using commercial UF and 4 per cent MDI were also prepared. To clear the beneficial effect of X-ACs as new HCHO (formaldehyde)-scavengers, the properties of the resulted boards were compared with those produced from the previous investigated scavenger: amide-containing starch-UF (AM/St–UF), and treated RS. DSC analysis was performed on the RS adhesive system, to follow the curing and the interaction behavior of UF with fibers in the presence of Xs-ACs.

Findings

The promising results obtained of RS particle boards from using the investigated new HCHO-scavenger are modulus of rupture (MOR) = 17.2 MPa, modulus of elasticity (MOE) = 4,689 MPa and internal bond (IB) strength = 0.49 MPa. While, the thickness swelling (TS) and maximum reduction in free-HCHO are 48.5 and 44.6 per cent, respectively; this reduction value specified the particle-board of E1-E2 type.

Research limitations/implications

The X-AC-UF adhesive systems and treated RS provided particle boards with mechanical properties (MOR, MOE and IB) that met the standard specification values (class M-2 according to ANSI standard and P-2 according to EN standard requirements), together with maximum reduction in toxicity of UF. However, the resistance in water swelling property is weak and needs further study to be solved.

Practical implications

The incorporation of small percentage of new HCHO-scavenger (X-AC) to UF is an effective way to improve its thermal behavior. Moreover, the mechanical properties of agro-based composites based on the treated RS waste together with the X-AC-UF system exceeded those values of panels produced from (AM/St-UF) and also from (4 per cent MDI).

Social implications

Incorporating the Xs-AC to commercial UF will be of benefit for saving the health of wood co-workers and motivating the wood mill to export its wood products, as well as minimizing the export of MDI.

Originality/value

This paper was based on enhancing the potential utilization of both undesirable RS agro wastes and environmentally unacceptable low-cost UF adhesive in the production of agro-composites that comply with the International Standard Specifications of particle board type. In this respect, a new HCHO-scavenger was synthesized and applied, based on AC from non-conventional xerogels. This study presents a solution to protect the environment from pollution, as a result of burning the undesirable RS, as well as to protect the workers and users of wood panels from exposure to the toxic and carcinogenic gas (formaldehyde). It also benefits in replacing the high cost of the RS adhesive (MDI) by using low-cost modified UF.

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2022

Salise Oktay, Nilgün Kızılcan and Başak Bengü

In industrial applications, formaldehyde-based wood adhesives have been used extensively because of their low costs and high reactivity. However, their real-world applications are…

Abstract

Purpose

In industrial applications, formaldehyde-based wood adhesives have been used extensively because of their low costs and high reactivity. However, their real-world applications are hindered by some main bottlenecks, especially the formaldehyde emission and usage of nonrenewable raw materials. The purpose of this study is the development of sustainable and formaldehyde-free wood adhesive formulation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, starch and tannin-based wood adhesive were synthesized. Chemical structures and thermal properties of the prepared bio-based resin formulations were elucidated by using Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry analysis, respectively. Laboratory scale particleboard production was carried out to determine the performance of the developed resin formulations. Obtained results were evaluated in dry medium (P2) according to European norms EN 312 (2010). Furthermore, the board formaldehyde content was determined by using the perforator method according to the European Norm EN 12460-5.

Findings

The results show that the improved starch and tannin-based wood adhesives were successful in their adhesive capacity, and the formaldehyde content of the final product was obtained as low as 0.75 mg/100 g. This paper highlights that the presented adhesive formulations could be a potential eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to the formaldehyde-based wood adhesives for interior particleboard production.

Research limitations/implications

Starch-based resins in the liquid form needed to be continuously mixed throughout their shelf life to prevent the starch from settling because it was not possible to dissolve the precipitated starch again after a while. For this reason, starch was given to the chips in powder form while preparing the particleboard.

Practical implications

In conclusion, this study shows that the developed bio-based resin formulations have a high potential to be used for producing interior-grade particleboards instead of commercial formaldehyde-based wood adhesives because the obtained results generally satisfied the interior grade particleboard requirements according to European norms EN 312, P2 class (2010). In addition, it was determined that the produced boards had significantly low formaldehyde content. The low formaldehyde content of the final boards was not because of the resin but because of the natural structure of the wood raw material, press parameters and environmental factors.

Social implications

The developed bio-based resin system made it possible to obtain boards with significantly low formaldehyde content compared to commercial resins.

Originality/value

The developed bio-based resin formulation made it possible to produce laboratory-scale board prototypes at lower press factors and board densities compared to their counterparts.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. 53 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2020

Mohammad Olfat, Sajjad Shokouhyar, Sadra Ahmadi, Gholam Ali Tabarsa and Atiye Sedaghat

This study, based on the cognitive dissonance and commitment theories, aims to show that employees with high organizational commitment take more advantage of enterprise social…

Abstract

Purpose

This study, based on the cognitive dissonance and commitment theories, aims to show that employees with high organizational commitment take more advantage of enterprise social networks (ESNs) due to work-related motivations. Furthermore, this study used the tricomponent attitude model to show that the employees' organizational concern and prosocial values mediate the impact of the organizational commitment on the work-related use of an ESN.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 361 employees from seven Iranian companies using different ESN software packages were surveyed. The validity of the hypotheses was evaluated using partial least square–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results of this study confirm that the employees' organizational commitment has a positive impact on their work-related use of the relevant ESN directly and through the mediating roles of their organizational concern and prosocial values.

Originality/value

Previous studies have carefully addressed the role of organizational commitment in the implementation of conventional information systems. However, this is among the few studies addressing the role of commitment in the work-related implementation of ESNs. The results of this study shed light on how employees with a high level of commitment toward the organizations for which they work take advantage of ESNs due to a work-related motivation for the accomplishment of their duties, for bringing benefits into the organization and for helping their coworkers.

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2019

Gholam ali Tabarsa, Mohammad Olfat and Sajjad Shokouhyar

This study aims to investigate the influence of organizational members’ social use of social networking sites (SNSs) on employees’ destructive voice directly and considering the…

1061

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence of organizational members’ social use of social networking sites (SNSs) on employees’ destructive voice directly and considering the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment to the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 240 employees of Asia-tech Company have participated in this study. To test the hypotheses, the researchers have used the partial least squares (PLS) method with the help of smart PLS software (version 2.0).

Findings

The results showed that organizational members’ social use of SNSs has a positive effect on destructive voice directly and considering job satisfaction as a mediator. However, social use of SNSs in the workplace considering the mediating role of affective commitment has a negative effect on destructive voice.

Practical/implications

The results of the study edify managers on how social use of SNSs in the workplace has paradoxical effects on destructive voice directly and regarding affective commitment as a mediating variable. Thus, the main contribution of this study is the fact that although social use of SNSs has many advantages such as promotion of job satisfaction and affective commitment in the workplace, it might have some detrimental effect such as reinforcement of destructive voice.

Originality/value

The model presented in this study is totally unique. Moreover, the investigations showed that there is no documented study regarding the examination of the effect of social use of SNSs on destructive voice directly and considering the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment.

Details

Journal of Indian Business Research, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4195

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2019

Mohammad Olfat, Gholam Ali Tabarsa, Sadra Ahmadi and Sajjad Shokouhyar

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to document that employees’ use of social networks (SNs) does not necessarily bring negative consequences and can indirectly benefit…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to document that employees’ use of social networks (SNs) does not necessarily bring negative consequences and can indirectly benefit organizations and second, to compare the roles of public SNs and enterprise social networks (ESNs) in bringing benefits to organizations. Consequently, this study, on the basis of stimulus‒organism‒response theory, directly investigated and compared the roles of public SNs and ESNs in promoting employees’ organizational commitment from affective, normative, and continuance dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

For this purpose, 240 employees of Asia-Tech Company, one of the high-speed internet service providers in Iran, who had joined Skype for Business ESN, were included in this study. Partial least squares (PLS) method was used to examine the validity of the measurement and structural models. To this end, Warp-PLS software (version 5.0) was employed.

Findings

The results of the study suggested that public SNs have a positive impact on affective and normative commitment; however, no significant impact was observed for continuance commitment. ESNs directly affect none of the dimensions of organizational commitment. Although both types of SNs have impacts on job satisfaction, the greater impact was found for the public SNs. Job satisfaction also has a positive effect on all three dimensions of organizational commitment.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, no study has directly investigated and compared the roles of ESNs and public SNs in promoting organizational commitment from affective, continuance and normative dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction. The most important theoretical contribution of the present research was to document that the employees’ use of SNs does not necessarily entail the waste of resources and has various advantages, such as strengthening organizational commitment (in affective, normative and continuance dimensions) and job satisfaction. In fact, this study disclosed the bright side of SNs in the workplace.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Mohammad Olfat

This study aims to show that employees' excessive work-related use of enterprise social networks (ESN) can be accompanied by some work-related strains, hindering them from…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to show that employees' excessive work-related use of enterprise social networks (ESN) can be accompanied by some work-related strains, hindering them from continuing utilization of ESN at work. To this end, the impact of employees' excessive work-related utilization of ESN on their discontinuous usage intentions by mediating roles of employees' impression management concerns, privacy concerns and ESN fatigue will be evaluated.

Design/methodology/approach

Stimulus-organisms-response (S-O-R) framework has been drawn to support the design of this research. Using an entirely random data collection, 173 ESN users from 10 Iranian organizations were surveyed. The model was assessed using partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results of the study confirm that employees' excessive work-related use of ESN positively affects impression management and privacy concerns, resulting in ESN fatigue. Furthermore, ESN fatigue plays a predicting role in ESN discontinuous usage intention.

Originality/value

According to the obtained results, if work-related use of ESN exceeds a normal threshold (i.e. excessive usage), employees will stop using ESN in their work due to the work-related strains delivered to them, revealing the dark side of ESN usage in organizations.

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2021

Mohammad Olfat, Sajjad Shokouhyar, Sadra Ahmadi and Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Ghaderi

This study utilized “social cognitive theory” to compare the impacts of organizational members' hedonic and work-related use of public social networks (SNs) and enterprise social…

Abstract

Purpose

This study utilized “social cognitive theory” to compare the impacts of organizational members' hedonic and work-related use of public social networks (SNs) and enterprise social networks (ESNs) on job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants comprised 240 employees who were able to simultaneously use SNs and ESNs in the workplace with regard to both hedonic and work-related motives. The measurement and structural models were evaluated using partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results show that organizational members' hedonic and work-related use of public SNs enhances job satisfaction. However, the hedonic and work-related use of ESNs has negative and positive impacts on job satisfaction respectively.

Originality/value

The main theoretical contribution of this study lies in showing that employees' use of social networks does not necessarily entail detrimental or beneficial consequences and depending on different factors the outcomes are different. Following a comprehensive review of the literature, users' incentives and platforms emerged as two different factors contributing to the outcomes arising from the use of social networks in the workplace. Although a few studies have explored the impacts of organizational members' use of social networks on job satisfaction, none have done so in relation to different user incentives and platforms.

Article
Publication date: 21 January 2022

Sunanda Nayak and Pawan Budhwar

Nowadays, technostress is a common problem for many organisations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the underlying mechanisms under which enterprise social networks…

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, technostress is a common problem for many organisations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the underlying mechanisms under which enterprise social networks (ESNs) leads to technostress and their consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from 242 employees working in research and development (R&D) centres in India and analysed the data using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The findings of the study contribute to the growing body of knowledge in “dark side of social media research” by researching the phenomenon of higher use of ESNs in organisations and the consequences while theoretically delineating the effect of social, hedonic and cognitive use of ESNs in organisations on technostress, thus extending prior research on adverse impact of social media and technostress research. The results revealed that both ESNs’ need and technostress is adversely related to mental health, performance and greater turnover intention, and perceived organisation support (POS) played a moderating role in this relationship such that with higher POS, employee turnover intention reduces. By uncovering the role of POS as a potential moderator, the findings provide empirical evidence for POS and technostress in organisations, thus offering practical implications for the ESNs strategists, managers and practitioners to develop ESNs’ usage policies to avoid adverse outcomes of technostress in organisations.

Research limitations/implications

This research advances theoretical understanding of the relationship between ESNs, technostress, mental health, performance and turnover” intention while contributing extensively to the technostress literature and to the scholarship of ESNs. In addition, by uncovering the role of perceived organisational support as a potential moderator, this study contributes to the existing literature on POS.

Practical implications

The empirically tested model delivered by this research will enable organisations to understand different excessive usage patterns of ESNs at work, which contribute to negative outcomes for organisations and employees. The findings support the maintenance of social life at work affecting better employee mental health, and the application of cognitive use of ESNs can reduce technostress. Hence, organisational strategies should implement employee policies and interventions that facilitate better work–social life and well-being, simultaneously encouraging usage of ESNs largely for work-related information transmission and sharing within the organisations.

Originality/value

This study constructed a moderated-mediation model by introducing the potential mediating effect of technostress, mental health and performance and the moderating effect of POS to reveal the mechanism through which ESNs related to technostress, mental health, performance and turnover intention in the Indian context.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 74 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2021

Mohammad Olfat, Sadra Ahmadi, Sajjad Shokouhyar and Sepideh Bazeli

This study through the lens of social learning theory and using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework aims to show that employees' social-related use of enterprise…

1030

Abstract

Purpose

This study through the lens of social learning theory and using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework aims to show that employees' social-related use of enterprise social media (ESM) can positively affect their intentions to purchase the fashion products used by their coworkers by mediating role of their perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in fashion (i.e. physical attractiveness, reliability in communications and experience in fashion).

Design/methodology/approach

To evaluate the validity of the measurement and structural models, 361 employees who were able to take advantage of ESM with social-related motivations were surveyed within seven Iranian organizations. The collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The results of the study confirmed that employees' social-related use of ESM positively affects their perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in three dimensions of physical attractiveness, reliability in communication (trustworthiness) and fashion experience (expertise). Employees' perceptions toward their coworkers' credibility in three dimensions of physical attractiveness, reliability in communications and fashion experience positively affect their intentions to purchase the fashion products used by their coworkers.

Practical implications

This study shows that ESM technology can shape a trusted online community of practice in which employees can share the same interests and learn about different types of [fashion] products and services from each other. Thus, ESM can be considered an online instrument for marketing purposes with which organizations can obtain revenue from other organizations by letting them advertise their products on ESM.

Originality/value

The main theoretical implication of this study is to extend the use of two advanced theories in the workplace, especially regarding employees' social-related use of ESM. In fact, this study through the lens of social learning theory and based on the S-O-R model shows that employees' social-related use of ESM can be considered as a stimulus in the workplace, influencing employees' perceptions toward different objects (e.g. their coworkers' credibility), and resulting in several changes in their behaviors. This is among a few studies addressing marketing outcomes of ESM in the employees' communities.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

1 – 10 of 33