A new method of making particleboard with a formaldehyde-free soy-based adhesive

A soy-based formaldehyde-free adhesive consisting of soy flour (SF) and a curing agent (CA) has been successfully used for the production of plywood. However, this adhesive cannot be easily sprayed onto wood particles for making particleboard because of its high viscosity. The following new method of using this adhesive was developed and investigated. SF was first mixed with water to form dilute soy slurry that could be easily coated onto wood particles. The soy-coated wood particles were dried to certain moisture content and then further coated with an aqueous curing agent. Effects of particleboard density, adhesive usages for both core and face particles, the solids content of the soy slurry, hot-press time, hot-press temperature, the storage time of the wet soy-coated wood particles, and the SF/CA weight ratio on the internal bond strength (IB), the modulus of rupture (MOR), and the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of particleboard were investigated. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.