Bonded with wattle tannin adhesive

Table II. Comparison of Approximate Industrial Conditions of Application for Particleboard Bonded with Wattle Tannin Adhesives...

Table 10.3.1 Properties of exterior particleboards bonded with wattle tannin-based adhesives (136)...

In the second approach (120), condensed tannins were purified of co-occur-ring carbohydrates and used as resorcinol replacements in a honeymoon system (116) as described previously in use of wattle tannin adhesives. One surface was spread with a commercial phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde laminating adhesive, to which additional formaldehyde was added. The other surface was spread with pine bark tannin extract in sodium hydroxide solutions. Bonds meeting the requirements of the American Institute of Timber Construction were also obtained using this approach. It was necessary to remove the carbohydrates, however. Addition of the separated carbohydrates at comparatively low levels (about 10%) resulted in bonds with low wood failure. 

The reactivity of resorcinol with formaldehyde is essential for developing the cohesive strength of the interlayer and its bonding characteristics. Condensed tannins are known to be very reactive with formaldehyde (7-0), so these renewable phenolic polymers are good candidates as resorcinol replacements. Indeed, condensed tannins from wattle and pine bark extracts have been successfully used in cold-setting, wood-laminating adhesives, and the former are used extensively in the commercial production of laminated timbers in South Africa (Pizzi, A., National Timber Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, personal communication, 1982) (10-13). 

Problems and facts that in the author s personal experience arise in the industrial application of tannin-based adhesives for timber sometimes indicate lack of correspondence with laboratory practice and results. These are often problems related to unusual characteristics of the adhesive itself, or of its application technique, which could not be noticed during research under laboratory conditions, but the existence of which could easily jeopardize successful implementation of laboratory technology into industrial practice. Correcting the credibility gap between research focus and industrial usage is seen as a critical step toward market expansion for these new products. Important considerations are consistency of tannins, extracts and adhesives properties due to the natural raw material variability formulation in cold-setting adhesives and application conditions (such as wood moisture and adhesive-content or pressing time) in particleboard adhesives. These problems have been overcome in use of wattle tannin-based adhesives as shown by a visual comparison of tannin-, phenolic-, and melamine-bonded particleboards exposed to the weather for 15 years and the growing use of tannin-based adhesives in other countries. 

The adhesives developed for the manufacture of damp-ply-resistant corrugated cardboard are based on the addition of spray-dried wattle extract, urea-formaldehyde resin, and formaldehyde to a typical Stein-Hall starch formula with 18-22 per cent starch content [75, 76]. The wattle tannin-urea-formaldehyde copolymer formed in situ and any free formaldehyde left in the glue line are absorbed by the wattle tannin extract. The wattle extract powder should be added at level of 4—5 per cent of the total starch content of the mix (i.e. carrier plus slurry). Successful results can be achieved in the range of 2-12 per cent of the total starch content, but 4 per cent is the recommended starting level. The final level is determined by the degree of water hardness and desired bond quality. This wattle extract UF-fortifier system is highly flexible and can be adapted to damp-proof a multitude of basic starch formulations. 

The development of wattle tannin-based plywood adhesives occurred concurrently with the particleboard adhesives and, although quite different adhesive properties are required to bond these two types of furnish, many of the basic premises on which their development were based are the same. A series of wattle tannin-based plywood adhesives that provide exterior bond qualities have been described in detail by Pizzi (182, 186). All recent formulations use low-molecular-weight polymers, as first suggested by MacLean and Gardner (131), rather than formaldehyde for crosslinking agents. 

Wattle tannins have been used as fortifiers in starch-based adhesives for corrugated carton manufacture in order to improve the moisture resistance of boxes used in shipment of fruit, for example (144, 217). Addition of 4% wattle tannin based on resin solids substantially improved the durability of these cartons. Wattle tannin urethane-based varnishes with excellent durability have been developed by Saayman (214). Other adhesive applications based on reactions of wattle tannins with isocyanates have been developed for specialty applications such as the bonding of aluminum (181). 

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