The Chemical Bonding of Wood

This chapter reviews the various ways in which chemical bonding has been thought to develop in the formation of wood joints, and it discusses the implications, both positive and negative, real and perceived for the chemical bonding of wood. In work designed to generate chemical bonding of wood and paper, two general approaches have been used: either the application of heat alone or heat and chemical treatments together. Heat alone is an inviting process to consider for the improvement of a material. Because the speed of a process is so important, the application of heat is normally reserved for thin materials such as paper and thin fiberboards. There is no doubt that heat has a tremendous effect on the properties of lignocellulosic material. By applying the chemicals thought necessary to create active sites on the wood surface, invariably the wood materials away from the surface are affected. This chemical treatment severs existing wood bonds and creates shorter cellulose chains.