Post-extraction birch bark residues as a potential binder in particleboards

Post-extraction birch bark residues as a potential binder in particleboards. Nowadays, in the wood-based composites industry, aspects such as ecology and joining the current circular economy play a very important role. However, user safety is also very important. Formaldehyde is one of the hazardous substances which, if emitted too high, can harm human health. Unfortunately, binders containing formaldehyde still reign supreme in the wood-based panels' industry. Therefore, this paper concerns the possibility of using post-extraction residues obtained during the extraction of suberinic acid, as a formaldehyde-free and ecological binder in the production of particleboards. The main component, suberinic acid, is a colorless, crystalline solid used in the synthesis of drugs and the production of plastics. The aim of the research was to answer the question: since suberinic acid itself is a good binder in the production of particle boards, as described in other publications, it is worth checking whether the post-extraction residues also have similarly good properties of joining particles in particle boards, depending on the size of the wood particles? In addition, the use of post-extraction residues of bark, and thus the elimination of synthetic adhesives in the wood-based composites production process, allows the reuse of wood raw material, which fits perfectly with the idea of upcycling. The tests showed that using post-extraction residues of birch bark, using 10% and 20% resination, the requirements of the EN 312: 2010 standard were met only in the case of the modulus of elasticity for boards made of the largest wood particles used in the tests. The resination and the size of wood particles contributed to the improvement of the properties of the tested boards.