Novel use of biomass derived alkyl-xylosides in wetting agent for paper impregnation suitable for the wood-based industry

Today, papers impregnated with thermosetting resins like urea-formaldehyde and/or melamine-formaldehyde are broadly used as covers for wood-based panels like particleboards (PB) and medium density fibreboards (MDF), because they offer flexibility in surface decoration, mechanical endorsement and protection from emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of the panel. The resin is enhanced with various additives, like hardeners, de-foaming agents, surfactants, wetting agents etc. that are traditionally derived from petroleum. In this study, CHIMAR Hellas tested for the first time biomass-derived surfactants, produced by ARD company, in resin mixtures suitable for paper impregnation. From a chemical point of view, these natural surfactants are alkyl xylosides and particularly amyl and butyl xylosides and proved to have performance equivalent to the petrochemical surfactants conventionally used in this industrial field. Although such surfactants have already been used successfully in other industrial fields, they had never been tested before in paper impregnation processes.