Tert-butyl acrylate (TBA) co-monomer-based water-resistant wood adhesive: synthesis and characterizations

To enhance the moisture resistance of wood adhesives, this work aims to add a branched co-monomer, such as tert-butyl acrylate, to polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) emulsion adhesive. This research focuses the development and testing of emulsion co-polymers containing vinyl acetate (VAc), vinyl neodecanoate (VeoVa), N-methylol acrylamide (NMA), and tert-butyl acrylate (Poly (VAc-VeoVa10-TBA-NMA)) as wood adhesives. Preservatives, plasticizer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution, and aluminum chloride solution are added to develop the emulsion-based adhesive samples. The VAc, VeoVa, methyl methacrylate (MMA) and NMA (Poly (VAc-VeoVa-MMA-NMA)) adhesive are then compared with the poly (VAc-VeoVa-TBA-NMA)-based adhesive sample. The EN 204-205 standard was followed in testing the tensile strength of bonded wood specimens in both wet and dry circumstances to evaluate the adhesives' performance. When compared to a co-polymer-based adhesive based on MMA, EN 204 demonstrates that after 6 h of bonding, the tensile shear strength of a TBA-based adhesive increased by 25.31% in a dry environment and by 31.58% in a wet environment. The established approach provides a simple and useful way to produce adhesives with better water resistance and bonding strength by using TBA as a branching co-monomer.