Particleboards bonded by an imidazole-based adhesive systemScharf, Alexander (Avtor) Popescu, Carmen-Mihaela (Avtor) Dernegård, Henric (Avtor) Oja, Johan (Avtor) Ormondroyd, Graham Alan (Avtor) Medved, Sergej (Avtor) Sandberg, Dick (Avtor) Jones, Dennis (Avtor) adhesioncitric acidesterificationionic liquidswood compositeParticleboards with different combinations of the adhesive material imidazole, citric acid, and sorbitol were produced. Softwood sawdust from a Swedish sawmill was mixed with an aqueous solution of the chemicals and then dried to 0% moisture content prior to pressing. The boards were pressed to a target density of 700 kg m−3 at either 200 °C or 220 °C for 10 min. The hygroscopic and mechanical properties of the boards were clearly better at 220 °C than 200 °C for all used chemical combinations. A combination of imidazole (14.4 wt%) and citric acid (11.3 wt%) led to the best results, where the thickness swelling after 24 h of water immersion was 6.3% and the internal bonding strength was 0.57 MPa. The modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity were 3.3 MPa and 1.1 GPa, respectively. Cyclic accelerated weathering showed exceptional stability with a thickness change after boiling and drying of only 2.1% compared to the initial dry thickness. This study indicates that the presence of imidazole leads to greatly improved hygroscopic properties and good internal bonding strength when used in particleboards.20232023-12-11 09:15:01Neznano152884sl