Journal of the Korea Furniture Society

Vol. 22, No. 3 July, 2011, 219-229

Green Adhesives Using Tannin and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid for
Environment-friendly Furniture Materials
Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim†

School of Architecture, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743, Korea

Abstract: Sick building syndrome symptoms that are experienced by building occupants may be
caused by toxic substances such as formaldehyde and VOCs, which are known to be emitted
from building materials and wood composite products such as wood-based panel, furniture, en-
gineered flooring and construction adhesive. In Korea, the use of wood composite products for
indoor environments has increased over the last decade. Recently, wood composite products
have been installed in approximately 95% of newly constructed residential buildings. The use of
these products has resulted in problems related to human health, and consequently a realization
about the importance of indoor air quality. In addition, consumer demand is increasing for nat-
ural materials because conventional building materials and wood composite products are made
by adding urea-formaldehyde resin or they contain formaldehyde-based resin. More recently,
many efforts have been made to reduce formaldehyde emission from building materials that laid
in the indoor environment. Especially, if conventional formaldehyde-based adhesives are re-
placed with green adhesives for residential spaces, it is possible to reduce most of the emission
amounts of formaldehyde in indoor environments. In line with this expectation, many re-
searches are being conducted using natural materials such as tannin and cashew nut shell liquid
(CNSL). This study discussed the affects and possibilities of green adhesives to reduce form-
aldehyde emission in indoor environments.

Keywords: green adhesive, tannin, CNSL, VOCs, formaldehyde

1. Introduction renovated housing. Sick building syndrome (SBS)

1)
Recently, residents have been spending almost
90% of their time indoors, which presents a high-
er risk from inhalation of pollutants than when
they spend time outdoors. It has been reported in
recent years that many people complain of symp-
toms of illness such as headaches, irritation of the
nose, nausea, skin disorders, and fatigue after
spending some time in new buildings or newly
Received for publication: June 28, 2011; Reviewed: July 6,
2011; Accepted: Received in revised form: July 14, 2011;
July 16, 2011
†
Corresponding author: Sumin Kim (skim@ssu.ac.kr)
is a serious problem of poor air quality caused by
indoor contaminants in the home and work place
(Hodgson, M. 2002; Menzies, D. et al. 1997; Lee,
S.-w. et al. 2007).
For all pollutants, building materials play a ma-
jor role in determining the indoor air quality ow-
ing to their larger surface area and permanent ex-
posure to indoor air. Building materials can re-
lease a wide range of pollutants, particularly
VOCs, which can degrade the indoor air quality
making it worse than that of outdoor air. Recent
studies of VOC emissions in four newly built un-
occupied test houses showed that the building

219
220 Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim
Fig. 1. Chemical structure of some phenols synthesized
from HT (Bisanda et al. 2003).
materials are the main source of indoor air pollu-
tion (Yu and Crump 1998). Polymeric materials
are used widely in buildings for the construction,
decoration, and furnishing of homes, offices and
schools, as well as other non-industrial work
places. Many of these materials are high VOC
emitters, such as solvent-borne paints and adhe-
sives. Some constitute large surface areas within
buildings, such as coatings and coverings on
walls, ceilings, and floors (Schmidt-Etkin, D.
1992).
In addition, formaldehyde is a suspected hu-
man carcinogen that is released from wood-based
panels used in home construction such as prod-
ucts made with urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins
(e.g., particleboard, hardwood plywood, medium
density fiberboard (MDF), and paneling) (Otson
and Fellin 1992; Kelly et al. 1999). Many con-
sumer products containing formaldehyde-based
resins release formaldehyde, leading to consumer
dissatisfaction and health-related complaints.
These emissions have resulted in a variety of
symptoms, the most common of which is irrita-
tion to the eyes and upper respiratory tract
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
(Pickrell et al. 1986).
The use of low emission materials or materials
with no-added formaldehyde is considered a fun-
damental method to reduce formaldehyde emis-
sion in indoor environments. The possibility of
using replacement materials for UF and PF adhe-
sives has also been studied for some time. Among
alternative materials, tannin, soybean and CNSL
are considered appropriate natural materials to
replace formaldehyde-based resin (Bisanda and
Ansell 1992; Kim 2009, 2010; Emiliano et al.
2010).
In this study, we discussed the applications of
natural phenolic compounds for green adhesives
and the affects and possibilities of green adhe-
sives to reduce formaldehyde emission in indoor
environments.
2. Tannin Based-Adhesive
2.1. Tannin Based-Adhesive
Recently, there has been growing interest in
tannin-based resins. Tannins are naturally occur-
ring phenolic compounds that have been a sub-
ject of extensive research leading to the develop-
ment of a wide range of industrial applications.
Tannins have traditionally been used for convert-
ing animal hides to leather, known as tanning,
due to their ability to interact with and precipitate
proteins found in animal skin. The term tannin
originates from the ancient Celtic word for oak,
which remains a popular source for tannins used
in converting animal skin into leather (tanning).
Today, in addition to oak (Quercus sp.), there are
many other plant species that are being used to
produce commercial tannin. These include plants
such as Acacia sp. (wattle), Eucalyptus sp.,
Mirtus sp. (myrtle), Acer sp. (maple), Betula sp.
(birch), Salix Caprea (willow), Pinus sp. (pine),
etc. ( Bisanda et al. 2003).
 Green Adhesives Using Tannin and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid for Environment-friendly Furniture Materials 221
Fig. 2. Chemical structure of wattle tannin (Acacia
mearnsil) flavonoids (Bisanda et al. 2003).
Chemically, tannins are made up of complex
phenolic compounds of high molecular weight,
ranging from 500 to 20,000. There are two main
categories of tannins: (a) hydrolysable tannins
(HT) and (b) condensed tannins (CT). Generally,
tannins are soluble in water, with the exception
of some very high molecular weight compounds.
HTs are readily soluble in water, making it possi-
ble for them to react with other substances to
yield a wide range of water-soluble chemicals
such as gallic acid (-gallotannins) or ellagic acid
(-ellagitannins). Fig. 1 shows the chemical struc-
tures of simple phenols obtained in HT. CTs
(Proanthocyanidis) have a condensed chemical
nature, even though they are still capable of un-
dergoing further condensation reactions. They
have complex chemical structures made of fla-
vonoid units, with variations on the sites at which
the flavan bonds are created. In general, CTs
have rigid carbon–carbon bonds that cannot be
broken easily by hydrolysis. Fig. 2 shows the
chemical structure of wattle tannin (Acacia
mearnsii) flavonoids according to Pizzi (Pizzi
1983, 2006).
A wide range of other industrial applications
have been found for tannins, in addition to their
widespread use in tanneries. These include an use
in the manufacture of inks for dyeing of textiles,
and as a corrosion inhibitor. In Chile and Brazil,
a variety of products have been developed from
tannin (Bisanda et al. 1992):
∙Anti-corrosive primer, sold under the brand
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
R = H : procyanidin : R = OH : prodelphinidin
Fig. 3. Chemical structure of proanthocyanidins and re-
action with formaldehyde (Ping et al. 2011).
name of Nox Primer for the treatment of rusted
steel surfaces prior to painting.
∙Rust converter to transform oxidized steel in-
to a smooth sealed surface.
∙Wood adhesives for bonding wood chips in
producing particle board building materials.
∙Rust inhibitor where tannin is added to min-
eral oil to protect cold rolled steel from corrosion
during transportation or storage.
2.2. Preparation of Tannin Based-adhesive
Wood adhesive condensed tannins with for-
laldehyde, have been used industrially since the
1970s for the interior and exterior wood bonding
of products such as particleboard and plywood.
They are obtained by the hardening of polymeric
flavonoids by polycondensation with form-
aldehyde, involving their more reactive A-ring
according to Fig. 3. Thus, it was demonstrated
that condensed tannins are both chemically and
economically interesting for the preparation of
adhesives and that they could be successfully
used as substitutes for phenol in the production of
resins (Pinga et al. 2011).
Generally, most tannin-based adhesives are
fortified with a synthetic polymer system such as
commercial UF (Bisanda et al. 2003; Pizzi
2006), commercial PF (Vazquez et al. 2003), re-
sorcinol-formaldehyde (Wen and Wei 2006) and
isocyanates (Batubenga 1995).
T. Tabarsa et al. studied four types of resins:
PF, T10%PF, T20%PF, and T30%PF, which
222 Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim
were tannin-modified PF resins containing 0, 10,
20%, and 30% tannin content, respectively. The
PF resin was supplied in liquid form, and before
an use, a 2% by weight hardener zink acetate [Zn
(CH3COO)2] was added and the mixture was
thoroughly stirred. The tannin was extracted
from oak (Quercus castaneifolia) trees. The mod-
ification of the PF resin was made through the
substitution of 10, 20% and 30% of a solution of
40% tannin extract (Tabarsa et al. 2011).
A. Moubaric et al. studied cornstarch-que-
bracho tannin-based resins designed as adhesive
in plywood production. The resol type of phenol
formaldehyde with a solids content of 46% and a
viscosity of about 450 cp was prepared using a
2.2 : 1 formaldehyde: phenol ratio and 7.3%
(w/w) of NaOH. The resols were prepared in a
two liter glass reactor with mechanical stirring
and temperature control. The necessary amount
of reactive according to the established for-
mulation was fed into the reactor, and when the
operating temperature was reached 90°C, the ex-
tension of reaction was monitored, measuring the
resol viscosity at 25°C. The adhesives were pre-
pared by copolymerisation at the room temper-
ature of cornstarch and quebracho bark tannins
in variable quantities with the previously pre-
pared resols (Moubarika et al. 2009).
S. Kim studied PVAc/Tannin hybrid adhesives
in accordance with the wt% of tannin. The pre-
pared adhesives were used on the face of the dec-
orative veneer bonding of engineered flooring
and the formaldehyde emission level and surface
bond strength were evaluated. PVAc was added
to the natural tannin adhesive to increase the vis-
cosity of tannin adhesive for surface bonding. For
tannin/PVAc hybrid adhesives, 5, 10, 20% and
30% of PVAc were added to the natural tannin
adhesives (Kim 2009).
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
2.3. Discussion of Tannin Based Adhesive
The objective of T. Tabarsa’s work is to eval-
uate the mechanical and physical properties of
three-layer boards made with wheat straw and
bonded with a tannin-based adhesive. The me-
chanical properties of panels were evaluated by
static bending, modulus of rupture (MOR) and
modulus of elasticity (MOE), the internal bond
(IB) tests. Physical properties such as water ab-
sorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) in wa-
ter were determined. In general, all types of straw
panels produced in this work met the MOR,
MOE, IB and TS requirements for general uses
according to European standards. Although the
wheat straw boards made with tannin-modified
PF resins had slightly poorer mechanical proper-
ties compared to the boards made with pure PF,
the T10% PF resin showed higher bond ability
than other modified PF resins. The highest
MOR, MOE, IB and the lowest WA and TS were
achieved at a 12 min press time and by using
Type 10% PF resin. An increase in the press time
positively affected the physical and mechanical
properties of the panels produced. With respect
to the findings of the study, it may be stated that
wheat straw can be used as a promising raw ma-
terial for panel production with the use of a tan-
nin-modified PF adhesive.
The aim of Amine A. Moubarik’s work was to
demonstrate the performances of cornstarch–
quebracho tannin-based resins designed as adhe-
sives in plywood production. The cornstarch and
quebracho tannin was introduced in the classic
adhesive formulation in order to supply part of
the phenol–formaldehyde (PF). The physical
properties of rheological characterization, ther-
mogravimetric analysis and solid phase 13C
NMR analysis of the formulated resins were
measured. In order to evaluate the mechanical
performances of optimal cornstarch–quebracho
 Green Adhesives Using Tannin and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid for Environment-friendly Furniture Materials 223
Fig. 4. Initial adhesion strength of natural tannin adhe-
sive and tannin/PVAc hybridadhesives (Kim 2009).
tannin-based resins, plywood panels were pro-
duced and mechanical properties were inves-
tigated. These mechanical properties included
tensile strength, wood failure and 3-point bend-
ing strength. The performance of these panels is
comparable to that of plywood panels commer-
cially made with PF resin. The results showed
that plywood panels bonded with cornstarch -
quebracho tannin - PF resins (15 : 5 : 80, w/w/w)
exhibited better mechanical properties than ply-
wood panels commercially made with PF resin.
The introduction of small proportions of corn-
starch and quebracho tannin in PF resins contrib-
utes to the improvement of the boiling water per-
formance of these adhesives. The formaldehyde
emission levels obtained from panels bonded
with cornstarch - quebracho tannin - PF were
lower than those obtained from panels bonded
with control PF (Moubarika et al. 2009).
In S. Kim’s study, tannin/PVAc hybrid adhe-
sives showed better bonding than the commercial
natural tannin adhesive with a higher level of
wood penetration. Fig. 4 shows the probe tack re-
sults for maple decorative veneer. With the in-
crease of open assembly time, the probe tack of
the natural tannin adhesive and tannin/PVAc
hybrid adhesives increased for a certain time and
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
Fig. 5. VOC emission concentrations (toluene, ethyl-
benzene, xylene and styrene) from engineered flooring
bonded with natural adhesive and tannin/PVAc hybrid-
adhesives as determined by the VOC analyzer (Kim
2009).
then decreased. The initial adhesion strength was
sufficient to be maintained within the optimum
initial tack range.
In addition, the standard formaldehyde emis-
sion test (desiccator method), field and laboratory
emission cell (FLEC) and VOC analyzer were
used to determine the formaldehyde and VOC
emissions. Using the desiccator method and
FLEC, the formaldehyde emission level of each
adhesive showed a similar tendency to that of the
natural tannin adhesive. PVAc did not cause in-
creasing formaldehyde emission. All adhesives
satisfied the E1 grade (below 1.5 mg/L) and E0
grade (below 0.5 mg/L) with UV coating, as
shown in Table 1. VOC emission results obtained
by the FLEC and VOC analyzer differed from the
formaldehyde emission results. Fig. 5 presents
the concentrations of the four indicated VOCS
from engineered flooring bonded with each adhe-
sive system, as determined by the VOC analyzer.
Xylene was the highest detected compound in all
samples, followed by ethylbenzene and toluene
consecutively. Styrene, however, was not de-
tected in any of the systems. However, the TVOC
emission of the PVAc added tannin adhesive sys-
224 Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim

Table 1. Formaldehyde and TVOC emission of engineered flooring bonded with naturaladhesive and tannin/PVAc
hybrid adhesives by desiccator and FLEC methods (Kim 2009)
2
Equipment Dessicator (mg/L) FLEC (mg/m h)
Formaldehyde
Air pollutant a
Formaldehyde TVOC
Non-coated Coated
Natural tannin adhesive 1.19 0.34 0.2 0.32
Tannin90/PVAc10 1.32 0.44 0.21 0.39
Tannin80/PVAc20 1.33 0.47 0.21 0.4
a
UV curable urethane acrylate coating.

polymer scientists throughout the world because

(a) Anacardic acid (b) Cardanol
(c) Cardol (d) 2-methyl cardol
Fig. 6. Components of CNSL (Park et al. 2005).
tem was slightly increased compared to the natu-
ral tannin adhesive. This tendency of form-
aldehyde and TVOC emission from the natural
tannin adhesive and tannin/PVAc hybrid adhe-
sives was confirmed by the FLEC test as shown
in Table 1. The difference between each system
of formaldehyde emission was not shown in the
FLEC data, while the TVOC of tannin/PVAc
hybrid adhesives was slightly increased by adding
PVAc compared to the natural tannin adhesive
(Kim 2009).
3. Green Adhesive Using Cashew
Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL)
3.1. CNSL
The synthesis of polymers from renewable re-
sources has attracted considerable attention from
of its potential attribute as substitute petrochem-
ical derivatives. With petroleum production in-
creasingly facing exhaustion, scientists and tech-
nologists focus their attention towards renewable
resources because these materials may act as po-
tential raw materials for the manufacture of poly-
mers in the 21st century (Bhunia et al. 1999).
CNSL, an agricultural by-product of the cashew
nut processing industry and a renewable re-
source, is a source of a long chain, m-substituted
phenol which promises to be an excellent mono-
mer for polymer production. CNSL occurs as a
reddish brown, viscous fluid in the soft honey-
comb structure of the shell of cashew nuts. Many
researchers have investigated on the chemistry
and composition its extraction. CNSL contains
four major components: 3-pentadecenyl phenol
(cardanol), 5-pentadecenyl resorcinol (cardol),
6-pentadecenyl salicylic acid (anacardic acid) and
2-methyl 5-pentadecenyl resorcinol (2-methyl
cardol). Fig. 6 gives the chemical structure of
these components.
The application of CNSL as a full replacement
for synthetic resins is of immense interest in the
current climate of diminishing petroleum re-
serves. About 90% of CNSL consists of anacardic
acid, cardanol and cardol (Mwaikambo and
Ansell 2003). Cardanol, which can be obtained
by thermal treatment of CNSL, is a phenol de-
rivative mainly composed of the meta substitute

Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011

 Green Adhesives Using Tannin and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid for Environment-friendly Furniture Materials 225
Fig. 7. Possible CNSL-formaldehyde structure (Lubi
and Thachil 2006).
of a C15 unsaturated hydrocarbon chain with one
to three double bonds (Kim et al. 2007; Bhunia et
al. 1998). Double vacuum distillation of CNSL
yields pure cardanol at 50% yield (Ikeda et al.
2000). CNSL constitutes nearly one-third of the
total nut weight. Thus, a large amount of CNSL
is formed as a by-product of the mechanical proc-
esses used to render the cashew kernel edible and
its total production approaches one million tons
annually (Park et al. 2005).
CNSL has potential industrial applications
such as for resins, friction lining materials, and
surface coatings. Especially in the field of poly-
mers, CNSL has mostly been studied as a modi-
fier of phenol–formaldehyde resins due to its
structural similarity with phenol. CNSL reacts
with formaldehyde under a variety of conditions,
yielding both resol and novolak resins depending
on the catalyst used. Fig. 7 shows the possible
structure of cross-linked CNSL-formaldehyde
resin where R represents the side chain. The phe-
nolic nature of the constituents of CNSL along
with varying degrees of unsaturation in the side
chain makes it a highly polymerizable substance
amenable to a variety of polymerization rea-
ctions. The most obvious and common method
of obtaining polymeric materials from CNSL is
the condensation reaction with formaldehyde.
The reaction of CNSL with formaldehyde is slow
compared to that of phenol with formaldehyde.
Pure CNSL-HCHO resin is a rubbery substance
with inferior mechanical properties compared to
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
phenol-HCHO resin. In this study, the effect of
CNSL-based phenolic resin in an adhesive for-
mulation for aluminium-aluminium bonding
(Al-Al) was studied. The effect of fillers and ad-
hesion promoters in the adhesive formulation
were also studied (Lubi and Thachil 2006).
3.2. Preparation of CNSL Based-adhesive
Biswas et al. describe the preparation and char-
acterization of a CNSL modified phenol - form-
aldehyde resin. The optimum settings disclosed
are CNSL: phenol weight ratio of 2 : 1 and their
reaction with formaldehyde at a temperature of
30∼40°C (Biswas et al. 2009). Mwaikambo and
Ansell describe the synthesis of a resin with
CNSL and formaldehyde using NaOH as catalyst
and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) as hard-
ener (Mwaikambo and Ansell 2003). Bisanda et
al. have synthesized a resin consisting of CNSL,
hydrolyzed tannin and urea - formaldehyde resin.
This resin was tested in particleboard pro-
duction. Although the CNSL modified phenolic
resins are suitable for many applications and per-
form improved corrosion and insulation resist-
ance, they have the disadvantage of requiring a
longer time to be totally cross-linked (set) com-
pared to their petrochemical counterparts. This
consideration has thus far constrained their broad
utilization by the wood-based panels industry,
since the manufacturers are reluctant to use a res-
in that is regarded as needing longer pressing.
This would affect a manufacturer’s profits as it
would mean an increase in the production costs
and lowering of the economic benefits (Bisanda
et al. 2003).
3.3. Discussion of CNSL
CNSL is a natural product, and because of its
phenolic nature it undergoes reactions similar to
those of phenol. The cost of CNSL is consid-
226 Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim
Fig. 8. Bonding strength between the face of the deco-
rative veneer and plywood substratein engineered floor-
ing: CNSL-formaldehyde (CF) resin and CF/PVAc
green adhesives (Kim 2010).
erably less than phenol. P. A. Mahanwar ex-
perimentally investigated the effect of replacing
phenol with CNSL on the properties of novolak
and resole resins. The addition of CNSL into
phenol seems to increase reaction times for the
preparation of novolak as well as resole type
resins. When CNSL with an acid value of more
than 10 was used, no satisfactory resin could be
formed. The resulting mass was only a viscous
fluid with very low resin content. This suggests
that only CNSL with an acid value less than 10
was suitable for resin preparation. In conclusion,
the addition of CNSL leads to a decrease in ten-
sile strength but an improvement in the impact
strength and electrical properties of the resole
resins. CNSL with an acid value above 10 is un-
suitable for making resins (Mahanwar and Kale
1996).
CNSL is a desirable starting material for adhe-
sive formulations due to its renewable nature,
high polarity, inherent tackiness of phenolic ma-
terials, and ease with which liquid-to-solid con-
versions can be accomplished. M. Lubi C. and
Eby Thomas Thachils’study aims to investigate
the effect of the incorporation of CNSL-based
resin in neoprene adhesive formulations. Phenolic
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
Fig. 9. Formaldehyde emission from engineered floor-
ing bonded with CNSL-formaldehyde (CF) resin and
CF/PVAc green adhesives as determined by thedesicca-
tor method (Kim 2010).
resin based on CNSL can be employed in adhe-
sive formulations. It improves the bonding
strength of Al-Al significantly. The addition of
3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane improves the
shear strength and peel strength of adhesives used
in metal-to-metal bonding considerably. Although
the copolymerization of crude CNSL and phenol
has generally led to some deterioration of shear
and peel performance compared to the case of
pure phenol- based resins, considering the low
cost of CNSL and its renewable nature, the parti-
al use of CNSL for this adhesive application is an
attractive proposal (Lubi and Thachil 2006).
S. Kim carried out the reduction of form-
aldehyde and VOCs emission from wood-based
flooring by green adhesive CNSL. In this study,
to discuss the reduction of formaldehyde and
VOC emissions from engineered flooring, CNSL-
formaldehyde (CF) resin and CF/PVAc resin
were applied for the maple face of the veneer
bonding on plywood. The bonding strengths of
the engineered flooring samples bonded with CF
resin and PVAc are shown in Fig. 8. The bonding
strengths of the non-treated (before boiling), en-
gineered flooring samples made using CF/PVAc
hybrid adhesives were considerably higher than
 Green Adhesives Using Tannin and Cashew Nut Shell Liquid for Environment-friendly Furniture Materials 227
those of the CF resin. With increasing PVAc con-
tent, the bonding strength was increased until a
PVAc content of 20% was obtained. Fig. 9
shows that the CF resin and CF/PVAc resin sys-
tems with UV coating satisfied the E1 and E0
grades of the Korean Standard. Before surface
coating, the formaldehyde emissions from the
products glued with CF resin were already less
than the E1 grade of the formaldehyde emission
level in the Korean Standard, even though the CF
resin contained formaldehyde. Renewable phe-
nolic compounds from trees and plants such as
tannin, lignin and CNSL were successfully ap-
plied as a thermosetting wood adhesive for wood
panels to reduce formaldehyde emission. These
renewable phenolic compounds give excellent
adhesive performance, good moisture resistance,
and tend to give a lower formaldehyde emission
than UF resin (Kim 2010).
In E. Papadopoulou and K. Chrissafisbs’ study,
an experimental phenol–formaldehyde resin
with 20% phenol replacement by CNSL was
studied and compared with a conventional phe-
nol–formaldehyde resin synthesized totally from
petrochemical raw materials. The adhesion strength
of these resins was investigated by their applica-
tion in plywood production. The plywood panels
were tested for their shear strength and wood fail-
ure performance while their free formaldehyde
emissions were determined with the desiccator
method. It was proved that although the neat
CNSL modified PF resin (PCF) cures at a longer
time and higher temperature than a conventional
PF resin, wood affects it more significantly, re-
sulting in curing on the evening of their curing
performance. This is a novel finding that mani-
fests the possibility of replacing a conventional
PF resin by a CNSL modified resin in the ply-
wood production, without changing any of the
production conditions and with an improvement
Journal of the Korea Furniture Society Vol. 22, No. 3, 2011
to the overall properties of the resin (Papadopou-
lou and Chrissafis 2011).
The understanding of the thermal character-
istics of the CNSL resin curing is essential for the
materials selection, design and manufacture of
natural fiber reinforced composite material.
Therefore, there is intense interest in under-
standing the curing characteristics and properties
of CNSL-based resins. In L. Y. Mwaikambo
and M. P. Ansells’s work the DSC technique has
been applied to study the change in the glass tran-
sition temperature of the oven-cured resin with
and without HMTA in order to monitor the ex-
tent of the cure. The glass transition temperature
was found to rise when the alkaline catalysed res-
in was subjected to higher curing temperatures re-
gardless of the concentration of formaldehyde
used. The mode of cure of the NaOH-catalysed
CNSL-formaldehyde resin has been found to be
more regular with HMTA hardener. FT-IR spec-
troscopy has been used to study the neat CNSL
and polymerised CNSL-formaldehyde resin with
and without HMTA. The use of the DSC and
FT-IR techniques to elucidate the extent of cure
of CNSL resins is a valuable step towards the pro-
duction of commercially successful CNSL-natu-
ral fiber composites.
4. Summary
Tannin is a renewable resource obtained from
plants such as Acacia sp., Eucalyptus sp., Mirtus
sp., Acer sp., Betula sp., Salix Caprea, Pinus sp.
(pine), etc. Also, CNSLs are a by-product of the
agriculture industry. They are naturally occuring
phenolic substances. Being an agricultural by-
product, they have the advantages of low cost
and renewable supply. They can replace phenol
in many applications. Tannins and CNSL are
groups of natural resins that are receiving wide
228 Jeong-Hun Lee, Jisoo Jeon, Sumin Kim
attention as alternative materials to synthetic
binders in the production of biocomposites.
UF is the commercial resin popularly used for
wood-based panel production. The most sig-
nificant problem is the emission of formaldehyde
and TVOC from wood-based panel. To improve
indoor air quality, the reduction of using UF res-
in is considered to be the most effective solution.
In previous works, many authors suggested that
tannin and CNSL are appropriate resources as
resins for wood-based panel production and
proved the reduction of toxic substances by using
tannin and CNSL.
However, there are a number of problems using
tannin and CNSL, such as decreasing in bonding
strength, MOE and MOR. Thus, in previous
works, many efforts had been made to improve
mechanical properties by seek of an optimal ratio
with a synthetic polymer system such as commer-
cial UF, PF, resorcinol–formaldehyde, or add-
ing PVAc, etc. As a result, the mechanical prop-
erties of green adhesives exhibited the perform-
ance that met the minimum performance requi-
rement.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Converging
Research Center funded by the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology (2010K001141).
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