Abstract

The recorded history of bonding wood dates back at least 3000 years to the Egyptians (Skeist and Miron 1990, River 1994a), and adhesive bonding goes back to early mankind (Keimel 2003). Although wood and paper bonding are the largest applications for adhesives, some of the fundamental aspects leading to good bonds are not fully understood. Better understanding of these critical aspects of wood adhesion should lead to improved wood products. The chemistry of adhesives has been covered in detail (Pizzi 2003a–f); however, the fundamentals of adhesive mechanical performance are not well understood. This chapter is aimed at more in-depth coverage of those items that are not covered elsewhere. It will touch briefly on topics covered by other writers and the reader should examine the recommended books and articles for more details. Many of the books on adhesives and adhesion are long and complicated, but a brief but thorough book exists (Pocius 2002). Adhesives are designed for specific applications, leading to thousands of products (Rice 1990). Petrie has broken adhesives into 20 groups of synthetic structural, 11 groups of elastomeric, 12 groups of thermoplastic, and 6 groups of natural adhesives (Petrie 2000). Brief has summarized the vast number of markets for adhesives (Brief 1990).