Engineered wood composites are conventionally manufactured by pressing wood elements of varying dimensions (from particles to veneers) with mixtures of binder and wax for both, structural and nonstructural applications. As the wood composite market exponentially grows, customer perception has shown a shift due to heightened safety and environmental concerns, and increased adhesive costs.  Nanocellulose can be used as an additive to wood composites for strength and/or dimensional stability enhancement, in most of the cases, acting as a reinforcing agent between the binder matrix and the cellulose micro/nano particles.<br/>The delivery mechanisms of nanocellulose to the system will have a direct impact on such performance, taking into consideration the tendency of nanocellulose to agglomerate in hydrophobic environments.<br/>We have developed an effective system to encapsulate nanofibrillated cellulose using wax as a carrier. This formulation reduces stress concentrations during loading due to agglomeration while maximizing the exposure of CNF to the adhesive matrix. As a result, wood composites with improved mechanical performance and dimensional stability were obtained incorporating CNF loads as low as 1% w/w. Additionally, we studied interfacial interactions between CNF, adhesive and wood particles through a model surface approach. We utilized surface sensitive techniques such as Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) combined with microscopic techniques such as X-Ray tomography and Atomic Force Microscopy to elucidate mechanisms of interaction between the system components in order to improve process ability of adhesives and performance of the wood composites.<br/>

Interfacial effect of nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) on wood-based matrix/resin interactions

2019 Spring National Meeting

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