ABSTRACT
Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins are extensively used as adhesives and binders for lignocellulosic materials. Lignocellulosic materials, conversely, are often used as fillers for phenol-formaldehyde resins in many of their applications. PF resins are currently produced in large quantities for many uses—for instance, the manufacture of exterior-grade wood adhesives. The molecular structure of simple PF condensates like dimers and trimers is of importance to the understanding of the structure of PF resins. An interesting technical point is that to minimize the energy of interaction between the PF dimers and the cellulose, it was not necessary to minimize a priori the PF dimer's internal energy in isolation. Because the dimer is left free to undergo internal conformation adjustments during the computation of the interaction with the cellulose surface, the PF dimer's most stable conformation on the cellulose surface is always different from its most stable conformation when studied as an isolated molecule.
