Sestec adhesive based on animal proteins for the production of particleboards

The development of a biodegradable adhesive that uses waste from industry will bring enormous economic, social, environmental, and health benefits. Many laboratories around the world conduct research on the development of natural adhesives that can replace those based on toxic formaldehyde. Works in this area are also carried out by Sestec Polska Sp. z o. o, an example of which is the Sestec B0021G adhesive. This product belongs to the family of animal protein-based adhesives and is dedicated to particle board (PB) production (classes P1–P5 according to EN 312). This work presents the results obtained during the preparation of boards based on Sestec B0021G protein adhesive, manufactured with the use of variable production parameters, and assesses the influence of these parameters on the properties of the obtained products. The emphasis was especially on presenting the impact of production parameters on the PB strength and water resistance. The tests were carried out using different densities (560–800 kg/m3), pressing temperatures (150–230 °C), amounts of adhesive (7–15% in the surface layer and 5–13% in the core layer) and specific press times (5–13 s/mm). The boards showed excellent mechanical properties and water resistance. Higher PB classes were obtained under standard production conditions. Eventually, the obtained results showed that the binder can be used to produce all classes of PB products P1 to P7, and not only P1-P5 as initially assumed.