Effect of Temperature on Formaldehyde and Volatile Organic Compound Emissions

Temperature is a key factor influencing emissions of the formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds ( VOCs) from building materials. This study focused on the effect of temperature on emissions of the formaldehyde and VOCs from a wood lacquer. The wood lacquer was tested in a small environment chamber which was 53 L at 15 ℃，25 ℃ and 35 ℃． Spectrophotometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to measure the pollutant concentrations． A double exponential empirical model was used to probe into the VOC emission characteristics of the wood lacquer at different temperatures． Measurement results showed that the positive effects of temperature on formaldehyde and VOC emission from wood lacquer were significant． The parameters in the double exponential empirical model increased with temperature, especially E₁ and E₂. Generally speaking, the emission strength of the wood lacquer increased and decayed faster at higher temperatures.