Comparative Adhesive Bonding of Wood Chemically Modified with Either Acetic Anhydride or Butylene Oxide

Determining adhesive bond performance for chemically modified wood is important not only its commercial utility but also understanding durability. Bulking modifications occupy space inside the cell wall, limiting available water. We used two bulking on yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.): acetylation (Ac), which bulks and converts a hydroxyl group to an ester, while butylene oxide (BO) preserves group. Both result in lower water uptake; however, loss of with Ac reduces wood’s ability form hydrogen other polar bonds adhesives. On hand, BO reaction replaces another one along hydrocarbon chain; thus, this product may be harder than unmodified wood. investigated how these chemical affect four adhesives: resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF), melamine-formaldehyde (MF), emulsion polymer isocyanate (EPI), epoxy. The ASTM D 905 shear strength both dry wet samples showed that results were quite similar wood, MF EPI performed poorly Ac-modified contrast RF