Marcela Vidal-Vega

This study examines the global wood products market to propose an eco-label for the Chilean sector with an international orientation. A national prior certification framework and governance structure were established, aligned with international regulations to ensure compliance with target market standards. By doing so, the initiative aims to expedite the entry of Chilean products into foreign markets while incentivizing the supply and demand for sustainable goods locally. Through a historical review of eco-labels and an assessment of environmental declarations in the timber industry, this research identified critical regulations and designed a comprehensive management model. The findings reveal that existing certifications predominantly focus on indoor air quality (IAQ), specifically regarding volatile organic compound (VOC) and formaldehyde (HCHO) emissions in wood products for the construction sector (CLT, GLULAM, panels, etc.) using fossil-based adhesives. This study concluded that governance should be spearheaded by the Chilean Environment Ministry in collaboration with a specialized technical committee. Consequently, as a result, a hybrid (quantitative and qualitative) eco-label is proposed to communicate emissions limit compliance, enabling Chilean firms to report it emissions, prior to initiating formal international certification processes.

Engineered wood products manufactured with the durability and density of a Pinus radiata D. Don species usually do not achieve the mechanical properties of a structural material for construction; hence, the reinforcement of this kind of product is recommended, but the use of commonly used hazardous adhesives is a problem. Therefore, the primary objective of this research was to investigate the enhancement of various properties of glulam beams made from radiata pine through the application of a high-performance reinforcing composite, based on carbon fiber, polyvinyl alcohol, and other nanomaterials, at a laboratory scale. For this purpose, thermal and mechanical tests were performed in different composite formulations to choose the best ones and to manufacture the glulam beams, in which bending properties were measured. Based on the results, the samples reinforced with graphene stood out, and the samples mixed with epoxy resin presented statistically the same values of flexural stiffness and strength as the control samples elaborated with commercial wood adhesives. It is also important to highlight the performance of the samples M7 (PVA (7.5%) + NL (0.01%) + GP (0.01%) + NSiO₂ (0.01%)) and M8 (PVA (7.5%) + NL (0.01%) + GP (0.01%) + NTiO₂ (0.01%)), which are not mixed with epoxy resin and showed statistically the same flexural performance as epoxy resin, in terms of maximum load and displacement. As a conclusion, it could be said that this new high-performance composite could be a comparable alternative to hazardous commercial adhesives, by obtaining lower values, but close to those of the control sample, which are the most used when reinforcing wood products with engineering fibers.

In this work, we sought to study the properties of OSB panels manufactured with new green adhesives for wood that can replace formaldehyde-based wood adhesives currently on the market. After the manufacturing of the OSB panels, physical, mechanical, thermal, and formaldehyde emissions tests were performed according to international standards. From the results, it was found that OSB panels produced with green adhesives are less susceptible to color change after UV exposure than an OSB panel manufactured with phenol-formaldehyde adhesive. Furthermore, the OSB panels produced with green adhesives presented statistically the same dimensional stability as an OSB panel manufactured with phenol-formaldehyde adhesive. In terms of mechanical properties, sample OSB-1 outperformed the control sample by 7% (MOE flatwise) and 13% (MOR edgewise) and reached 68% of the tensile strength, 85% of the internal bond strength, and 87% of the Janka hardness of the control sample. Regarding the mechanical properties and formaldehyde emissions evaluation results, all three OSB samples tested could be classified into OSB/2 of the E1 classification, which means that the OSB panels produced with green adhesives presented a performance comparable to that of the OSB panels manufactured with a formaldehyde-based wood adhesive. Hence, the green adhesives could be a potential replacement for the phenol-formaldehyde adhesive in the manufacturing of OSB panels because they yielded, in most cases, results equal to those for a control OSB panel.

In this study, an intumescent fire retardant (IFR) bioadditive was designed based on a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast protein matrix. Lignosulfonate was used as a cohesive reinforcement of its polymeric structure, along with magnesium hydroxide Mg(OH)_2, as agents that enhance the binder-intumescent properties, with the aim of improving the thermal stability and fire resistance of the commercial PVAc adhesive. Firstly, two formulations of the bioadditive were elaborated and characterized for their physicochemical and electrical properties, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), adherence properties (shear strength), and fire resistance, to modify the PVAc adhesive. Thus, it was found that the IFR bioadditive formulation with a higher percentage of Mg(OH)₂ was more thermally stable than the other one, although both of them were able to enhance the binder-intumescent properties of the commercial adhesive PVAc. Then, ten adhesive blends of PVAc modified with these two different bioadditives were added in different proportions, and were elaborated and characterized for their physicochemical and electrical properties, mechanical properties including a shear test (dry, elevated temperature, and three-cycle conditions) and delamination. Based on these results, five adhesive blends were selected, and we performed the following tests: adhesive penetration, fire resistance, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and morphological and elemental analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM/EDS). From the modified PVAc adhesive blends, two samples were selected, which were able to improve the high temperature and fire performance of a PVAc adhesive.

Plywood production relies on phenol–formaldehyde (PF), which is why bio-based wood adhesives (BBWAs) were developed as potential replacements, showing promising results in several tests performed. A control sample (PLY-C) with PF and two samples (PLY-1 and PLY-2) with BBWA were manufactured, on which physical and mechanical properties, adhesive bonding morphology, formaldehyde emissions, and accelerated UV aging were evaluated. The adhesive penetration results, into the wood cells, were according to the viscosity of each adhesive. About the mechanical properties, the sample PLY-2 presented the same MOE and tensile strength as the sample PLY-C and reached 87% of the sample PLY-C MOR in the parallel direction. On the other hand, the sample PLY-1 presented the same behavior in the Janka hardness test as the sample PLY-C. All the samples subjected to shear strength tests met the requirement, and the samples PLY-1 and PLY-2 reached 68% and 80% of the PLY-C sample, respectively. The samples manufactured with BBWA presented a decrease in formaldehyde emissions by 88% and they were less susceptible to color change than the control sample under UV aging. According to the results obtained, it is concluded that plywood manufactured with BBWA might be a considerable replacement for plywood manufactured with PF adhesives at a laboratory scale.

This study aimed to reinforce a polyvinyl acetate-D3 (PVAc-D3) adhesive to improve its mechanical and thermal properties. The goal was to reach a polyvinyl acetate-D4 (PVAc-D4) adhesive performance that could make PVAc-D3 more attractive and add value to wood products. PVAc-D3 was modified by adding 0.05% and 0.5% (wt.) of multi-walled carbon nanotube particles (MWCNTs) as well as 0.5% and 2.5% (wt.) of lignosulfonate (LIGNO) particles. Adhesive blends were compared to neat PVAc-D3 and PVAc-D4, evaluating their physical–chemical properties. Also, they were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and mechanical dynamic analysis (DMA) with a storage module (E′). The blends were used to fabricate laminated wood pieces, pressed at 60 and 120 min (min), to be tested at shear strength under dry, elevated temperature and vacuum-pressure conditions. Delamination and adhesive penetration were determined by microscopy. Incorporating fillers into PVAc resulted in a decrease in viscosity. FT-IR evidenced that the PVAc-D4 adhesive had a bigger cross-linked degree than the other adhesive samples. The DMA showed that LIGNO and MWCNT fillers help increase E′ at the bond line, reaching a higher stiffness level than neat PVAc-D3. In dry conditions, specimens glued with D3-LIGNO 0.5% at 120 min reached shear strengths that were 100%, 28%, and 3% higher than the standard requirement, PVAc-D4, and neat PVAc-D3, respectively. Also, those glued with D3-MWNTC 0.05% reached shear strengths that were 91%, 21%, and 3% higher than the standard requirement, D4, and neat D3, respectively. Only PVAc-D4 reached the standard requirement for elevated temperature and vacuum-pressure conditions. Delamination of ≤5% (standard requirement) was achieved by wood specimens glued with neat PVAc-D3, D3-MWNTC 0.5%, D3-LIGNO 0.5%, and PVAc D4 adhesive samples. In this study, it was found specific ranges of average penetration (AP) to ensure a glue line good quality. To conclude, LIGNO and MWCNT particles improved the PVAc-D3 adhesive’s performance in dry conditions, but they were not very relevant to the D3 adhesive’s behavior. At high temperatures, the LIGNO filler worked very well as a thermic stabilizer compared to the MWCNT filler. The solubility of the reinforcing agent can affect an adhesive’s blend quality and its cohesion properties. An adequate penetration depth procures a good quality bond between an adhesive and substrate with less possibilities of delamination. An extensive pressing time may cause a weak interphase and poor mechanical properties in an adhesive bond in the presence of humidity.

Climate change is one of the main factors influencing the research of environmentally friendly materials. This is why the use of engineering fibers as a reinforcement technique in wood, in order to increase its mechanical properties, has recently been investigated. This research presents the results obtained from the use of carbon and basalt fiber fabrics as a reinforcement for microlaminated Radiata Pine wood panels at a laboratory scale using the adhesives epoxy resin and polyvinyl acetate. Tests were carried out in comparison to the control boards, relating the physical properties obtained in terms of thickness swelling by 48 h-water immersion with a decrease of 19% for the polyvinyl acetate and carbon fiber matrix reinforcement, about the mechanical properties evaluated, a better performance was obtained for the epoxy resin and carbon fiber matrix reinforcement and in terms of flexural stiffness and strength (in flatwise), tensile strength and Janka hardness, with an increment of 31%, 38%, 56% and 41%, respectively.

The environmental crisis and the safeguarding of the population's health has led to research into different ways of mitigating harmful gases. Among the emissions that the wood industry has sought to reduce are those of formaldehyde, which is why new green adhesive methods for wood panels have been investigated in recent years. In this research, particleboard with two bio-based wood adhesive (PB-bbwa) formulations. The first PB-bbwa formulation, based on proteins obtained from compounds from the alcoholic beverage industry, and the second PB-bbwa formulation, based on proteins from a mixture of compounds from the alcoholic beverage and food industries, were manufactured and tested to evaluate the physical–mechanical, thermal and formaldehyde emission properties of untreated and UV-treated formulations at a laboratory scale. The results of the physical properties obtained in the PB-bbwa were similar or even better than those of the control PB. Additionally, PB-bbwas improve on the control PB sample’s Janka hardness by least 28%, and a decrease in thermal conductivity in the edgewise position and formaldehyde emissions by 12% and 88%, respectively, in comparison to the control PB. The tests performed evidenced that PB-bbwas showed comparable performance against the control PB made with urea-formaldehyde and satisfied international standard requirements.

Currently, wood is presented as an alternative to traditional building materials and to mitigate climate change. Chile is one of the eight largest wood producers in the world; therefore, wood-based products are an easily accessible resource. The aim of this research is to reinforce at laboratory scale plywood panels with basalt and carbon engineer fibers using epoxy resin and polyvinyl acetate as an adhesive system to improve their physical and mechanical properties. Three-point static bending and Janka hardness tests were carried out. The results showed a better performance in the reinforced boards, which showed an increase in Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) properties in the parallel direction of about 48.2% and 52.8%, respectively. Additionally, for the perpendicular direction, there was an increase of 52.0% and 102.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) plywood panels showed an increase of at least 37% on the Janka hardness property, obtaining higher results with the polyvinyl acetate (PVA) adhesive. Finally, FRP–plywood, PVA–BF and PVA–CF may be a new option for composite wood materials, with their ductile behavior and superior mechanical properties, especially in the perpendicular direction, where the increases were greater than those shown in unreinforced plywood.