Development of a High-Performance Adhesive with a Microphase, Separation Crosslinking Structure Using Wheat Flour and a Hydroxymethyl Melamine Prepolymer

Development of environmentally friendly glyoxal-based adhesives with outstanding water repellency utilizing wheat gluten protein

To reduce the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from formaldehyde-based adhesives at the source, the use of low-toxicity and biodegradable glyoxal instead of formaldehyde for the preparation of novel urea-glyoxal resins is a simple and promising strategy. The limited water resistance and adhesive strength of the new urea-glyoxal resins (UG) restrict their extensive application. This study prepared a high-performance, water-resistant WP-UG wood adhesive by combining UG prepolymer with wheat gluten protein (WP). FTIR, XRD, and XPS confirmed the existence of a chemical reaction between the two components, and thermal analysis showed that WP-UG plywood had better thermal stability. Evaluation of the gluing properties revealed that the dry and wet strengths of WP-UG adhesive bonded plywood reached 1.39 and 0.87 MPa, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of UG resin by 35 % and 314 %. The bond strength increased from 0 to 0.89 MPa after immersion in water at 63 °C for 3 h. The results indicated that the introduction of WP promoted the formation of a more complex and tightly packed crosslinking network and developed a glyoxal-based adhesive with high bond strength and water resistance. This study provides a new green pathway for novel urea-formaldehyde binders to replace harmful formaldehyde-based binders, which helps to increase their potential application value in the wood industry.

Investigation and Characterization of Synthesis Conditions on Sucrose-ammonium Dihydrogen Phosphate (SADP) Adhesive: Bond Performance and Chemical Transformation

Sucrose is one of the most abundantly available renewable chemicals in the world, and it is expected to be utilized as a raw material for wood-based material products. Herein, a novel adhesion system that was based on sucrose and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) was synthesized into an adhesive with 80% solid content, and this eco-friendly was utilized on the fabrication of plywood. The effects of the synthesis conditions on the plywood bond performance and synthesis mechanism were investigated. The optimal synthesis conditions were as follows: the mass proportion between sucrose and ADP was 90/10, the synthesis temperature was 90 °C, and the synthesis time was 3 h. The bonding performance of the plywood that was bonded by optimal SADP adhesive satisfied the GB/T 9846-2015 standard. The chemical analysis was performance tested by using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra (ATR-FTIR), and Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to understand the chemical transformation during the synthesis process. The chemical analysis results confirmed that the hydrolysis and conversation reaction of sucrose occurred in the synthesized SADP adhesive, and ADP promoted the pyrolysis efficiency of sucrose.