Huge amounts of synthetic binders and polymers are used for the production of wood-based composites which are toxic to humans during the production and exploitation of products because of the risk of harmful vapor emissions. The bio-based society requires new value chains for the production of bio-based materials. Suberinic acids (SA) have a high potential to replace synthetic binders and polymers due to the unique structure. In this study, hydrolytic depolymerization of birch outer bark in alkaline environment was carried out. To evaluate the adhesive properties, the chemical composition and structure were analyzed using chemical and instrumental methods. To set independent variables for the design of experiments (DOE), the following preliminary parameters were investigated: filtered and unfiltered SA; impact of the depolymerization agent; the fractional composition of the raw material. Based on the obtained results, DOE with three independent variables (depolymerization time, pH after acidification, alkali concentration) was used for the selection of optimal depolymerization parameters. It has been concluded that, with increasing concentration of KOH in the depolymerization solution and the reaction time, suberin is depolymerized to a higher extent and thus there is a higher amount of monomeric SA, monosaccharides and polyphenolic compounds in the resulting adhesive, which positively affects the physico-mechanical properties of the obtained particleboards. These substances together form cross-linked structures that provides not only the mechanical strength but also water resistance of the resulting particleboards. The optimal SA-based adhesive was improved by increasing the KOH concentration to 4%, acidifying to the pH 3 and reducing the reaction time to 0.5 h. The obtained particleboards' properties (modulus of rupture – 19.0 N mm⁻², modulus of elasticity – 2604 N mm⁻², thickness swelling – 14.3% and internal bonding – 2.25 N mm⁻²) meet the requirements of the particleboard standard EN 312 type P3. Still, this is an experimental work and the hot-pressing parameters must be decreased to consider the possibility to introduce the adhesive in the large-scale industry.

大量的合成粘合剂和聚合物用于生产木基复合材料，这些复合材料在产品的生产和开发过程中由于存在有害蒸汽排放的风险而对人类有毒。生物基社会需要新的价值链来生产生物基材料。由于其独特的结构，软木酸 (SA) 具有取代合成粘合剂和聚合物的巨大潜力。本研究在碱性环境下对桦木外皮进行水解解聚。为了评估粘合性能，使用化学和仪器方法分析了化学成分和结构。为了为实验设计 (DOE) 设置自变量，研究了以下初步参数：过滤和未过滤的 SA；解聚剂的影响；原料的部分组成。根据所得结果，采用具有三个独立变量（解聚时间、酸化后的 pH 值、碱浓度​​）的 DOE 来选择最佳解聚参数。得出的结论是，随着解聚溶液中 KOH 浓度的增加和反应时间的增加，木栓素的解聚程度更高，因此所得粘合剂中单体 SA、单糖和多酚化合物的含量更高，这对胶粘剂产生了积极的影响。所得刨花板的物理机械性能。这些物质共同形成交联结构，不仅提供机械强度，而且提供所得刨花板的防水性。通过将 KOH 浓度增加到 4%，酸化到 pH 3 并将反应时间减少到 0.5 小时，优化了基于 SA 的粘合剂。所得刨花板的特性（断裂模量 – 19.0 N mm^-2，弹性模量 - 2604 N mm ^-2，厚度膨胀 - 14.3% 和内部粘合 - 2.25 N mm ^-2 ) 满足刨花板标准 EN 312 P3 型的要求。尽管如此，这是一项实验性工作，必须降低热压参数以考虑在大规模工业中引入粘合剂的可能性。