Exploring the formaldehyde reactivity of tannins with different molecular weight distributions: bayberry tannins and larch tannins

Abstract In recent years, tannin degradation has been used to obtain tannin materials with an optimal molecular weight distribution (MWD) for synthesizing tannin-formaldehyde (TF) resin with high performance, but the optimal MWD of tannins is still unknown. The excellent formaldehyde reactivity of tannins is the basis for the synthesis of high-performance TF resin. Based on the formaldehyde reactivity of tannins, bayberry tannins and larch tannins were used to explore the optimal MWD of tannins for TF resin synthesis. Progressive solvent precipitation (PSP) was used to obtain tannin fractions with different MWDs. The formaldehyde reactivity of tannins was determined using the modified Stiansy method combined with the standard curve method (GB/T 17657-2013). The bayberry tannin fraction [weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of acetylated tannin: 4115, mean degree of polymerization (mDP): 6.64] and the larch tannin fraction (Mw of acetylated tannin: 3906, mDP: 5.84) had the best formaldehyde reactivity. Furthermore, significant differences in the formaldehyde reactivity of condensed tannins (CTs) with different MWDs were observed. The obtained results can be used to purposefully degrade tannins to achieve an optimal MWD, which is beneficial for the production of TF adhesives with high performance.