Eco-economical polyurethane wood adhesives from cellulosic waste: Synthesis, characterization and adhesion study

This study reports the preparation of polyurethane adhesives using polyols obtained from cellulosic waste and detailed study on its adhesive strength in wood joints. Keeping in view the environmental hazards related to the huge paper-waste generation across the world, low-viscosity polyols have been prepared using magazine paper waste and vegetable oils with different physicochemical properties and were used to prepare two-component polyurethane adhesives for wood bonding. Polyurethane was analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and TGA was used for the analysis of thermal properties. The adhesive strength was measured and compared with commercially available adhesives under different environmental conditions. The synthesized adhesive with NCO/OH ratio of 1.2 and curing time of 5 days was found to be superior to the commercial adhesives Fevicol™ and Araldite™ when compared simultaneously for the single-lap shear strength in different environmental conditions.