Abstract

Reducing CO₂ emissions for the long term is an important issue in countering climate change. For this reason, the use of renewable construction materials inter alia wood-based materials is becoming increasingly important. Wood based materials often depend on petrochemical-based binding agents, most of which contain and emit formaldehyde. This causes environmental and health-related difficulties that could be rectified by avoiding the utilization of these adhesives. For this purpose, enzymatically bonded medium-density fiberboards (MDF) with a targeted raw density of 650 kg/m³ and 750 kg/m³ and high-density fiberboards (HDF) with a density of 900 kg/m³ were produced in different thicknesses. Laccase-Mediator-System (LMS) was applied to manufacture the boards and to compare them to those glued with UF and inactivated laccase, respectively. These panels were tested in terms of their physical technical properties, such as internal bond strength (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR) and thickness swelling (TS) after 24 h immersion. The aim was to show the correlation between density and these properties for fiberboards bonded this way. Most panels meet the requirements of the European standard when LMS and UF-resin were used. The possibility to produce fiberboards bonded with alternative bonding agents opens up the way to alternative, innovative, healthy and environmental-friendly wood based products.

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