There has been a rapid growth in research and innovation of bio-based adhesives in the engineered wood product industry. This article reviews the recent research published over the last few decades on the synthesis of bio-adhesives derived from such renewable resources as lignin, starch, and plant proteins. The chemical structure of these biopolymers is described and discussed to highlight the active functional groups that are used in the synthesis of bio-adhesives. The potentials and drawbacks of each biomass are then discussed in detail; some methods have been suggested to modify their chemical structures and to improve their properties including water resistance and bonding strength for their ultimate application as wood adhesives. Moreover, this article includes discussion of techniques commonly used for evaluating the petroleum-based wood adhesives in terms of mechanical properties and penetration behavior, which are expected to be more widely applied to bio-based wood adhesives to better evaluate their prospect for wood composites application.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/9/2/70/pdf

Bio-Based Adhesives and Evaluation for Wood Composites Application.

A review of factors influencing the durability of structural bonded timber joints

The elastic modulus, hardness, and creep factor of wood cell walls in the interphase region of four different adhesive bonds were determined by nanoindentation. In comparison with reference cell walls unaffected by adhesive, interphase cell walls from melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) and phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF) adhesive bonds showed improved hardness and reduced creep, as well as improved elastic modulus in the case of MUF. In contrast, cell walls from the interphase region in polyvinylacetate (PVAc) and one-component polyurethane (PUR) bonds showed more creep, but lower elastic modulus and hardness than the reference. Considering the different cell-wall penetration behaviour of the adhesive polymers studied here, it is concluded that damage and loss of elastic modulus to surface cells occurring during the machining of wood is recovered in MUF and PRF bond lines, whereas damage of cell walls persists in PVAc and PUR bond lines.

/pdf/mechanical-characterisation-of-wood-adhesive-interphase-cell-4my5pe8xof.pdf

Mechanical characterisation of wood-adhesive interphase cell walls by nanoindentation

Understanding why wood bonds fail is an excellent route toward understanding how to make them better. Certifying a bonded product usually requires achieving a specific load, percent wood failure, and an ability to withstand some form of moisture exposure without excessive delamination. While these tests protect the public from catastrophic failures, they are not very helpful in understanding why bonds fail. Understanding failure often requires going beyond what meets the naked eye, conducting additional tests, probing the wood surface, the fracture surface, adhesive properties, and the interaction of wood and adhesive during bond formation and service. This review of wood bond analysis methods reviews fundamentals of wood bonding and highlights recent developments in the analyses and understanding of wood bonds. It concludes with a series of challenges facing the wood bonding community.

https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2018/fpl_2018_hunt002.pdf

Understanding wood bonds–going beyond what meets the eye: a critical review

European hardwood species such as beech, oak and ash present a potential alternative to commonly used softwoods in glued engineered wood products. To date, mainly amino- and phenoplast adhesives are used for bonding these hardwoods, but some one-component polyurethane (1C-PUR) adhesives prove to offer an alternative when combined with a primer pretreatment. Therefore, a study was conducted to examine the influences of primer treatment and other parameters, such as surface machining and press time on the bondability of ash, beech, oak and—as a reference—Norway spruce. Delamination and block shear tests were conducted according to current European standards. Furthermore, information about bonding quality was gathered by means of microscopic glue line thickness measurements. The results suggest that the primer treatment is able to significantly enhance the bonding quality of hardwoods. The choice of the surfacing method causes some significant changes in the primer effectiveness. However, not all species were equally affected. The influence of the primer treatment on shear tests in a dry state was rather low throughout the series and only little significance was found. similar results were found after variations of the press time.

1C-PUR-bonded hardwoods for engineered wood products: influence of selected processing parameters

wood cells and penetration of PVA glue was examined by light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. After planing with dull knives the wood cells were greatly distorted and cell walls were extensively damaged, particularly at and near the glue line. In comparison, sharp knives caused much less damage to cell walls and the cells had a normal or near-normal appearance. These features are discussed in detail in relation to glue penetration and the performance of glue joints after planing with sharp and dull knives.

J. M. Warnes

Papers

The effect of planing on the microscopic structure of Pinus radiata wood cells in relation to penetration of PVA glue