Summary: Extensive studies using mussel adhesive protein as a formaldehyde‐free, strong, and water‐resistant adhesive model revealed that a combination of a polymer with catechol moieties and a polymer with amino groups could serve as a strong and water‐resistant wood adhesive. This study demonstrated that the treatment of abundant and readily available brown‐rot‐fungus‐decayed wood with NaBH4 followed by mixing with polyethylenimine resulted in a formaldehyde‐free, strong, and water‐resistant wood adhesive.
Lignin is demethylated by brown‐rot fungi and then reduced using NaBH4.
