Tannin Structure and the Formulation of Tannin-Based Wood Adhesives

Abstract

Without doubt, tannin structure and the ability of these polyphenols to be formulated into industrial tannin-based adhesives go hand in hand. While some applied developments would not have been possible if fundamental structural research on tannins had not been done, other applied developments are, or were, achievable without the previous input of structural research. In the latter cases, once the applied development was finalized, its occurrence could eventually, almost always, be justified on later or preexisting structural considerations. Many cases of structure-property relationships can be found in the tannin adhesives field only a few of which can be addressed here. From some of these examples, it can be concluded that structural research in this field has been both the initiator of industrial implementation as well as the brake that sometimes unduly and unwittingly slowed down industrial application.