Recent advances in our understanding of lignocellulosic biomass are opening up new challenges in materials engineering. For several years now, numerous biobased solutions have been emerging to replace some petroleum-based products in order to alleviate the problems of soil, water and air pollution. However, these solutions often consume a great amount of water and energy, or use petroleum-based adhesives. This work therefore proposes to evaluate the potential of dry processes for manufacturing biobased materials, that are water and adhesive free, high-performance, energy and cost-efficient, economically viable and scalable. The presented work is based on the thermoplastic properties of amorphous polymers present in biomass, that exhibits a glass transition temperatures (Tg) allowing materials creeping1, which can act as a natural glue when the appropriate process parameters are employed. Thus, a reorganization of the material micro-structure is possible, evidenced by plasticized appearance and enhanced properties2. These phenomenon result in materials known as binderless composites, manufactured with dry processes. Recent works focused on this approach of binderless composites, whether all-cellulose3 or lignocellulosic4. However, a number of obstacles remain regarding the knowledge on the adhesion phenomena and the understanding of the formation of the material.
Keywords: Wood composite, binderless, dry processes
Authors
Annabelle Julien
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LGP2, 38000 Grenoble, France
Quentin Charlier
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LGP2, 38000 Grenoble, France
Julien Bras
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LGP2, 38000 Grenoble, France
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