A novel wood adhesive based on yeast hydrolysate

Due to certain problems with petroleum-based products, the development of a renewable and green adhesive is urgent and important. Yeast hydrolysate, which contains more than 55% protein, possesses many advantages in its source (it originates from yeast as opposed to petroleum) and environmental protection. In this work, a wood adhesive based on yeast hydrolysate was developed through the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), polyvinyl alcohol, and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) to improve properties of the yeast hydrolysate adhesive via the epoxy group in EGDE. The influence of EGDE on the adhesive properties (density, viscosity, solid content, bonding strength, and curing temperature) was investigated. The thermal property and changes in molecular structure during curing were characterized via differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. These results indicated that a ring-opening reaction between the epoxy group of EGDE and the active group had an important influence on the properties.