Traditional wood-based panels are produced with synthetic, formaldehyde-based adhesives, commonly made from fossil-derived constituents, such as urea, phenol, melamine, etc. Along with their numerous advantages, such as chemical versatility, high reactivity and excellent adhesive performance, these adhesives are characterized by certain problems, connected with the hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mostly free formaldehyde in the adhesives and the formaldehyde emission from the finished wood composites, which is carcinogenic to humans and harmful to the environment. The growing environmental concerns and stringent legislative requirements to the formaldehyde emission from wood-based panels have posed new challenges to researchers and industrial practice, related to the development of sustainable, eco-friendly wood-based panels with close-to-zero formaldehyde emission. The most common methods to reduce the formaldehyde emission from wood-based panels have been to decrease the free formaldehyde in the adhesive by modifying the adhesive (like lowering the molar ratio of formaldehyde to urea in UF resin) or by using formaldehyde scavengers, one group of scavengers being for adhesives by mixing or reacting and the second one scavengers for wood-based panels as post-treatments. Another way is to use alternative bio-based adhesives, however, there are still substantial challenges for the complete replacement of formaldehyde-based adhesives with bio-based adhesives, mainly because of their relatively low bonding strength, poor water resistance, etc. This article presents a review and analysis of the current state of research in the field of low formaldehyde emission wood adhesives and formaldehyde scavengers for manufacturing low-toxic, eco-friendly wood composites.

The potential of using ground birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) bark as an eco-friendly additive in urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesives for plywood manufacturing was investigated in this work. Five-ply plywood panels were fabricated in the laboratory from beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) veneers bonded with UF adhesive formulations comprising three addition levels of birch bark (BB) as a filler (10%, 15%, and 20%). Two UF resin formulations filled with 10% and 20% wheat flour (WF) were used as reference samples. The mechanical properties (bending strength, modulus of elasticity and shear strength) of the laboratory-fabricated plywood panels, bonded with the addition of BB in the adhesive mixture, were evaluated and compared with the European standard requirements (EN 310 and EN 314-2). The mechanical strength of the plywood with the addition of BB in the adhesive mixture is acceptable and met the European standard requirements. Markedly, the positive effect of BB in the UF adhesive mixture on the reduction of formaldehyde emission from plywood panels was also confirmed. Initially, the most significant decrease in formaldehyde release (up to 14%) was measured for the plywood sample, produced with 15% BB. After four weeks, the decrease in formaldehyde was estimated up to 51% for the sample manufactured with 20% BB. The performed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), also confirmed the findings of the study. As this research demonstrated, BB as a waste or by-product of wood processing industry, can be efficiently utilized as an environmentally friendly, inexpensive alternative to WF as a filler in UF adhesive formulations for plywood manufacturing.

The potential of producing eco-friendly, formaldehyde-free, high-density fiberboard (HDF) panels from hardwood fibers bonded with urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin and a novel ammonium lignosulfonate (ALS) is investigated in this paper. HDF panels were fabricated in the laboratory by applying a very low UF gluing factor (3%) and ALS content varying from 6% to 10% (based on the dry fibers). The physical and mechanical properties of the fiberboards, such as water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS), modulus of elasticity (MOE), bending strength (MOR), internal bond strength (IB), as well as formaldehyde content, were determined in accordance with the corresponding European standards. Overall, the HDF panels exhibited very satisfactory physical and mechanical properties, fully complying with the standard requirements of HDF for use in load-bearing applications in humid conditions. Markedly, the formaldehyde content of the laboratory fabricated panels was extremely low, ranging between 0.7–1.0 mg/100 g, which is, in fact, equivalent to the formaldehyde release of natural wood.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using magnesium and sodium lignosulfonates (LS) in the production of particleboards, used pure and in mixtures with urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin. Polymeric 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI) was used as a crosslinker. In order to evaluate the effect of gradual replacement of UF by magnesium lignosulfonate (MgLS) or sodium lignosulfonate (NaLS) on the physical and mechanical properties, boards were manufactured in the laboratory with LS content varying from 0% to 100%. The effect of LS on the pH of lignosulfonate-urea-formaldehyde (LS-UF) adhesive compositions was also investigated. It was found that LS can be effectively used to adjust the pH of uncured and cured LS-UF formulations. Particleboards bonded with LS-UF adhesive formulations, comprising up to 30% LS, exhibited similar properties when compared to boards bonded with UF adhesive. The replacement of UF by both LS types substantially deteriorated the water absorption and thickness swelling of boards. In general, NaLS-UF-bonded boards had a lower formaldehyde content (FC) than MgLS-UF and UF-bonded boards as control. It was observed that in the process of manufacturing boards using LS adhesives, increasing the proportion of pMDI in the adhesive composition can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the boards. Overall, the boards fabricated using pure UF adhesives exhibited much better mechanical properties than boards bonded with LS adhesives. Markedly, the boards based on LS adhesives were characterised by a much lower FC than the UF-bonded boards. In the LS-bonded boards, the FC is lower by 91.1% and 56.9%, respectively, compared to the UF-bonded boards. The boards bonded with LS and pMDI had a close-to-zero FC and reached the super E0 emission class (≤1.5 mg/100 g) that allows for defining the laboratory-manufactured particleboards as eco-friendly composites.

The potential of ammonium lignosulfonate (ALS) as an eco-friendly additive to urea–formaldehyde (UF) resin for manufacturing high-density fiberboard (HDF) panels with acceptable properties and low free formaldehyde emission was investigated in this work. The HDF panels were manufactured in the laboratory with very low UF resin content (4%) and ALS addition levels varying from 4% to 8% based on the mass of the dry wood fibers. The press factor applied was 15 s·mm⁻¹. The physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling), mechanical properties (bending strength, modulus of elasticity, and internal bond strength), and free formaldehyde emission were evaluated in accordance with the European standards. In general, the developed HDF panels exhibited acceptable physical and mechanical properties, fulfilling the standard requirements for HDF panels for use in load-bearing applications. Markedly, the laboratory-produced panels had low free formaldehyde emission ranging from 2.0 to 1.4 mg/100 g, thus fulfilling the requirements of the E0 and super E0 emission grades and confirming the positive effect of ALS as a formaldehyde scavenger. The thermal analyses performed, i.e., differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), also confirmed the main findings of the research. It was concluded that ALS as a bio-based, formaldehyde-free adhesive can be efficiently utilized as an eco-friendly additive to UF adhesive formulations for manufacturing wood-based panels under industrial conditions.

The objective of this study was to investigate the sound absorption coefficient of bark-based insulation panels made of softwood barks Spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) and Larch (Larix decidua Mill.) by means of impedance tube, with a frequency range between 125 and 4000 Hz. The highest efficiency of sound absorption was recorded for spruce bark-based insulation boards bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin, at a level of 1000 and 2000 Hz. The potential of noise reduction of larch bark-based panels glued with tannin-based adhesive covers the same frequency interval. The experimental results show that softwood bark, an underrated material, can substitute expensive materials that involve more grey energy in sound insulation applications. Compared with wood-based composites, the engineered spruce bark (with coarse-grained and fine-grained particles) can absorb the sound even better than MDF, particleboard or OSB. Therefore, the sound absorption coefficient values strengthen the application of insulation panels based on tree bark as structural elements for the noise reduction in residential buildings, and concurrently they open the new ways for a deeper research in this field.