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Bio-based hot-melt adhesive from xylan

Nature Sustainability volume 8, pages 827–836 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Adhesives are ubiquitous in industries and daily life. However, conventional fossil-derived adhesives pose substantial health and environmental risks during manufacturing and utilization. The development of nontoxic high-performance adhesives from renewable feedstocks is therefore highly desired but remains technically challenging. Here we report a high-performing hot-melt adhesive—glue that is applied in a hot molten state—derived from a byproduct of the pulp industry, xylan, a type of hemicellulose. Under optimal conditions, the lap-shear strength between wood chips can reach approximately 30 MPa, surpassing that of classic epoxy resins and far exceeding that of a commercial hot-melt adhesive (ethylene vinyl acetate). Furthermore, the xylan hot-melt adhesive exhibits excellent reusability for multiple applications, retaining more than 100% of its original adhesion strength even after ten reuse cycles. Toxicity tests show good biocompatibility for xylan hot-melt adhesive. Overall, this work provides useful insights into the design of high-performance, reusable, bio-based adhesives for enhanced sustainability.

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Fig. 1: Preparation and characterization of the xylan adhesives.
Fig. 2: Adhesion performance of the xylan adhesives.
Fig. 3: Mechanical properties of three-layer plywood prepared from xylan adhesives.
Fig. 4: Adhesion mechanism of xylan adhesive.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available within the paper and Supplementary Information. Additional supporting data generated during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge funding from the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (32225034, F.P.), Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (GZB20230062, J.R.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (22278036, F.P.) and Ministry of Education, China-111 Project (BP0820033, F.P.). In addition, we appreciate the assistance of the Innovation Platform for High-Value Utilization of Forest Resources, Beijing Forestry University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, MOE Engineering Research Center of Forestry Biomass Materials and Energy, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China

    Ziwen Lv, Xueqing Yan, Siyu Jia, Jing Pan, Xiang Hao, Gegu Chen, Baozhong Lü, Jun Rao & Feng Peng

  2. State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing, China

    Feng Peng

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  1. Ziwen Lv
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Contributions

Z.L. and J.R. conceived the project and designed experiments. Z.L. and S.J. oversaw material design and production. Z.L., X.Y. and J.P. carried out experimental studies and material synthesis. J.R. and F.P. performed simulations and analysis. X.H., G.C. and B.L. supervised the project. Z.L., J.R. and F.P. wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun Rao or Feng Peng.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Sustainability thanks Yuta Tsuji and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Figs. 1–22 and Tables 1 and 2.

Reporting Summary (download PDF )

Supplementary Video 1 (download MP4 )

Installation of xylan adhesive.

Supplementary Video 2 (download MP4 )

Extrusion of xylan adhesive.

Supplementary Video 3 (download MP4 )

The adhesion process of wood chips.

Supplementary Video 4 (download MP4 )

Hair dryer heating for bonding.

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Lv, Z., Yan, X., Jia, S. et al. Bio-based hot-melt adhesive from xylan. Nat Sustain 8, 827–836 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01579-9

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