Chapters authored
Green Binders for Wood Adhesives
Today’s society relies heavily on glued wood products for constructions, furniture, and floorings, for example. Essentially, all adhesives on the market are based on fossil-based resources, and many also contain formaldehyde to yield sufficient reactivity and adhesive performance. Formaldehyde is soon to be banned from consumer goods in Europe, due to its carcinogenic and allergenic features. With the rapidly growing societal environmental awareness, it becomes evident that it is crucial to seek greener, more sustainable alternatives. There is nothing new to this idea; on the contrary, prior to the advent of synthetic polymers, a range of biopolymers such as proteins and starch, were successfully used. However, since adhesives based on synthetic polymers were found to perform better, especially regarding the water resistance, the naturally sourced adhesives have had a subordinate role up until recently. The growing interest for using bio-polymers from renewable resources, such as wood/forest, corn, and cereals have spurred significant R&D developments toward the use of bio-polymers in green wood adhesives. The scope of the present chapter is to summarize, in short, some of the most recent scientific literature regarding the development of green adhesives.
Part of the book: Applied Adhesive Bonding in Science and Technology