Importance of Research on Wood Adhesion for Wood-based Materials

Wood-based material is constituted by bonding small pieces of processed wood, called elements, using wood adhesives. Therefore, researches on wood-based materials and wood adhesives are very closely related. In recent years, cross-laminated timber (CLT), which has been developed as a new wood-based material, is beginning to spread as a structural material in the wood industry in Europe, North America, and Japan. This paper reviews the changes in element size in the development history of wood-based materials and the relation between element type and bonding properties of wood-based materials. It also discusses the importance of research on wood adhesion for the technical development of wood-based materials through CLT.