Wheat protein as adhesive for wood products for interior use

Protein is one of the most researched and widely used natural adhesives. Before the breakthrough of synthetic adhesives in the wood industry, proteins were commonly used in furnitureproduction. Today, proteins in the form of industrial by-products e.g. soy protein, blood and wheatprotein are on the market, and these proteins can in general be used as a base for wood-productsadhesives. Proteins are in general denatured by a change in pH, heat or organic solvents before theycan be used as adhesives. In this study, a cold-dissolution of wheat protein (gluten) was tested withregard to its usability for the production of particleboards and laminated veneer products. The bondingwas evaluated by testing the internal bond strength, thickness swelling, tensile strength and tensileshear strength. The results showed that the strength of the bond-line was in some cases as high asthe strength of the wood material, but also that there were in some cases problems with thepenetration of the adhesive into the wood and this lowered the bond-line strength considerably. Themain conclusion is that cold-dissolved gluten adhesives are a good alternative to commercial syntheticadhesives for interior use, but that there are still challenges with the poor moisture resistance of theadhesive.<p>Validerad; 2016; Nivå 1; 20151225 (dicsan)