Properties of a new adhesive composed of Gambir-sucrose

Abstract

Gambir is a non-wood forest product with a potential of being used as wood adhesive, due to about 33% catechin in it. Meanwhile, catechins and sucrose have not been studied as adhesives. Therefore, basic characteristics of gambir-sucrose adhesives were investigated. In this research, adhesives were prepared by dissolving gambir and sucrose in distilled water, at different blending ratios of the gambir/sucrose such as 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75 wt%. Furthermore, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to determine the gambir chemical compositions, and Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was carried out to identify chemical bonds. Particleboards with a target density of 0.8 g/cm3 were then manufactured by hot-pressing for 10 min at 200℃. The internal bond (IB) strength of particleboard was subsequently measured. Based on the GC-MS analysis, 31.11% of catechin was identified. In addition, the viscosity, density, solid content, and gelation time of the adhesives, and insoluble matter content (IMC) in boiling water were 7.30~33.24 mPa.s, 1.2~1.3 g/cm3, 25.56~28.44%, 73~420 min, and 29.75~62.10%, respectively. Adding sucrose to the adhesive was observed to raise the IMC from 49.05 to 62.10%, at 180℃ and 200℃. FT-IR analysis showed that the gambir absorption peaks occurred at approximately 1620 cm-1, assigned to the C=O stretching of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, which tended to increase with the addition of sucrose. The reaction between gambir and sucrose was observed in the form of the dimethylene ether bridge. The 25/75 wt% gambir-sucrose adhesives and 200℃ hot-pressed temperature resulted in the highest IB strength (0.89 MPa), and met the requirement of JIS A5908-2003 type 18. Consequently, the gambir-sucrose adhesive could be used as a particleboard adhesive.