A new method to bond wood together using only light energy is investigated to create petroleum-free wood composites.  The objective of this study was to investigate the thermal rheological behavior of laser modified wood (LMW) surfaces, in an effort to shed light on adhesion mechanism of laser activated bonding of wood. Both solvent-submersion and dry sample compressive-torsion dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) methods were used in this study. Cylindrical discs (8mm diameter) with thickness of only 0.6 mm were used in DMA experiments. DMA results showed that laser modification impacts viscoelastic properties of wood. LMW displayed lower storage and loss moduli, and higher damping factor as compared to the unmodified wood. Glass transition temperature (Tg) of both water impregnated and dried wood shifted to lower temperature after laser modification. The research also demonstrated that parallel plate compression-torsion DMA method is sensitive to thin layers.

Parallel plate dynamic mechanical analysis of laser activated bonding of wood

245th National Meeting (2013)

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