monocotyledons in particleboard production: adhesives, additives, and surface modification of reed canary grass

As a supplier to the furniture industry, the particleboard industry is searching for opportunities to reduce costs, weight, and formaldehyde emissions. One such opportunity is to use monocotyledons such as straw and hemp, as well as grasses like reed canary grass. A major problem when using reed canary grass or other monocotyledons in combination with wood is the difference in their surface properties, leading to poor reactivity and wettability with adhesives such as melamine urea formaldehyde. To this end, either the surface of the particles must be modified in some way, or different adhesives must be used. The purpose of this paper is to present adhesives, surfactants, coupling agents, and pre-treatment methods that can be used in combination with monocotyledons to improve compatibility with wood. Some of the methods have been tested on reed canary grass. The results show a wide range of strength values for the joint between wood and untreated or pre-treated reed canary grass glued with different adhesives, with and without a surfactant and a coupling agent. Isocyanate-based adhesives provided relatively strong bonds, and polyvinyl acetate, acryl, and epoxy adhesives were also effective. The most effective method was pre-treatment followed by adhesives in combination with a coupling agent.