 SUBJECT: The Right Chemistry |
| Sticky Things |
 Building products like plywood, oriented strand board and particleboard are used to make everything from houses to furniture. These engineered panel products can be stronger than solid wood. How is that possible? Because of chemistry. Engineered panels are made of wood veneer or wood chips and shavings held together by special glues called resins. These resins contain polymers, which are long, winding chains of small molecules. Polymers are everywhere — the hair on your head is a polymer. When a resin is applied to wood fiber, its polymers keep the glue from being absorbed completely into the wood. This enables the resin to form a strong bond under heat and pressure, between layers of veneer or wood chips and shavings. Because the bond is formed inside the wood fiber as well as on the surface, we get products that are strong enough to build a house! |
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