A novel eco-friendly thermal insulation material for aircraft applications was developed from silicone nanofilament-functionalized kapok fiber nonwovens using a biodegradable polylactic acid binder. Kapok fibers, a renewable material extracted from Ceiba tree seed pods, were chosen due to their low density, good insulation, and natural origin. To make them suitable for aircraft insulation, the kapok fibers after removing the wax layer were consolidated with a bio-based polylactic acid binder into blankets, and silicone nanofilaments were immobilized on the surface of the fibers. This surface modification considerably improved the flame retardancy, reduced the water uptake, and improved the performance of the kapok-based insulation material. Therefore, this bio-sourced materials provide a viable alternative to state of the art aircraft insulation, reducing the carbon footprint without compromising on the essential performance and safety attributes. With further optimization of the manufacturing process and production to scale, this innovation offers a sustainable alternative to glass wool insulation materials currently dominating the aviation market.

The utilization of composite sandwich panels (CSP) with a core composed of wood or natural fibers presents a sustainable option for building insulation to address climate change. This study aims to produce and assess CSP thermoacoustic insulators by examining their physical, mechanical, acoustic, and thermal characteristics. The panels, with thicknesses of 12 and 19 mm, are constructed using cores of balsawood or pineapple leaves (Ananas comosus) (PALF) variety M2 and melina wood (Gmelina arborea) as veneer. Findings indicate that the density of the panels was from 222 to 266 kg m-3 for CSP-balsawood and from 210 to 303 kg m-3 for CSP-PALF. Regarded water absorption panel values, for CSP-balsawood is between 60 and 69% while for CSP-PALF, it is between 104 and 128%. Swelling values of 0.92-1.53 and 3.4-8.5% are for CSP-balsawood and CSP-PALF, respectively. The CSP-balsawood demonstrated superior modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity values in static bending in both longitudinal and parallel directions, as well as in compression and tension. Furthermore, with the same core material, the 19 mm CSP exhibited greater density and mechanical properties compared to the 12 mm CSP. Thermal resistance is 0.26 to 0.30 and 0.19 to 0.25 W m-1 K-1 for panels from balsawood and PALF, respectively, with the highest thermal conductivity observed at a 19 mm thickness in both cases. During sound absorption testing, the SAC coefficient was found to be less than 0.33 sound absorption coefficient for different panels, which is characteristic of insulation panels. Results reported that CSP-balsawood is suitable for applications where sound insulation is a priority, whereas those made with PALF are more appropriate when thermal insulation is the primary concern. The fabrication of CSP with natural products enhances energy efficiency, improves spatial conditions, and decreases energy consumption, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation.

Traditionally, there are two types of wood fiber insulation boards (WFIB), the rigid ones produced in the industry by a continuous steam process, bonded with polymer diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI), with densities between 80 and 200 kg/m 3 , and the flexible ones with densities under 80 kg/m 3 produced by hot air, usually with bicomponent fibers as a binder. In this work, wood fiber insulation boards (WFIB) were produced with polylactic acid (PLA) as a binder by hot press (HP) and hot air (HA). WFIB with densities of 60 kg/m 3 , 80 kg/m 3 , 100 kg/m 3 and 5%, 10% and 15% of PLA percentage were produced by hot press (HP) and hot air (HA). Wood and PLA fibers were examined by scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and optical microscope. The WFIB were assessed for physical properties as density and short-term water absorption as well as for their resistance to compression as a mechanical property. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were also tested. In the produced WFIB, the values of density follow the same pattern as water absorption, compression strength, and thermal conductivity. The polylactic acid (PLA) content improves mechanical value like compression and diminishes physical value such as short-term water absorption in WFIB. In conclusion, wood fiber insulation boards (WFIB) were successfully produced with polylactic acid (PLA) as a binder, by hot press (HP) and hot air (HA), reaching remarkably lower thermal conductivity values, comparable with commercial ones.

There is a necessity to develop products using natural fibers instead of those derived from fossil fuels. In former years, insulation board products were based commonly on nonrenewable sources like glass and rock. Nowadays, the trend in insulation boards is turning to lignocellulosic-based fiber. However, the binder nature is still an issue, being polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate, a nonrenewable origin one, the most common in pressure-resistant insulation boards. To address this, wood-based insulation boards were created using an adhesive derived from isolated-canola protein, a naturally-based binder. Wood-fiber-based insulation boards were produced by hot press with densities of 100 kg.m-3, 115 kg.m-3, 130 kg.m-3 and 160 kg.m-3 and binder proportions of 10% and 12%. They were compared with wood-based boards bonded with 4% pMDI, as is common in similar commercial wood-fiber insulation boards. The results report that as density increases, compression and internal bonding strength values also rise, irrespective of the binder type. The thermal conductivity values demonstrated that produced boards can be classified as insulation materials, with density having a direct influence on thermal conductivity. The findings confirmed that it is feasible to produce wood-based insulation boards using a canola-based binder with sodium nitrite as a crosslinker. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic) ((sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic))(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)100 kg/m-3,115 kg.m-3,130 kg.m-3(sic)160 kg.m-3,(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)10%(sic)12%. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)4%pMDI(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).

Over the past decades, consistent efforts have been dedicated to addressing the challenge of low performance of protein-based wood adhesives. This study explored the potential of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a crosslinker for improving the bonding strength of canola protein isolate (CPI) and canola meal (CM) bio-adhesive. Simultaneously, the effect of the pH value of the slurry was investigated. Three-layer particleboards were manufactured using the canola-based adhesives and subjected to testing for their internal bonding strength (IB), bending strength (BS), and modulus of elasticity (E-modulus). Results showed that, despite the low PEI ratio utilized, notable enhancements in the mechanical properties of the boards were observed. The IB values increased by 17% and 15% for CPI and CM-based adhesive formulations, respectively; while the BS exhibited rose by 13% and 9%, respectively. It was observed that an increase in pH contributed to enhanced bonding properties of the bio-based adhesive. By enhancing the denaturation of the protein and increasing the free reaction group in the protein chain, this improves the crosslinking mechanism of PEI, leading to improved mechanical properties.

Traditionally, kapok fiber is employed as filling for soft pillows, bedding, and diverse elements. Due to its buoyancy and proportion between cell wall and lumen, it is also applied as buoyant material in life vests and insulation materials. This study examine slightweight insulation panels produced from kapok fibers. Lightweight insulation boards are produced by hot-air using kapok fibers (95%) bonded with polylactic acid or bicomponent fiber (5%), achieving very low densities of 10,15, and 20 kg.m-3. The technological attributes like density, porosity, water absorption, wettability, compression, and thermal conductivity, are evaluated against commercial glass wool. In terms of water absorption rates, there is a direct correlation with density. All the variables reach short-term water absorption values less than 1 kg.m-2, which are comparable to commercial standards. This can be attributed to the lower density, higher porosity of the samples, and the inherent hydrophobic wax layer in the cell wall surface of kapok fibers. This trend is also evident in wettability tests, where produced boards demonstrated water-repellency when exposed to water. Regarding the mechanical property of compression, neither the binder nor the density significantly impacts compression strength. The thermal conductivity performance of kapok-based boards is comparable with commercially available ones.

The storage stability of binders before their application is a crucial factor in the wood panel industry, as it impacts the mechanical properties, quality control, economic efficiency, and market competitiveness of the final products. In the present study, the long-term stability of two canola protein isolate (CPI) and two canola meal (CM) adhesive variants was investigated. The protein-based adhesives were prepared and tested on one-layer particleboards after one week, one month, two months, three months, and four months of storage of the formulations. Results indicate that the CPI-based outperformed the CM-based variants in terms of internal bonding strength (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) due to the higher protein concentration of the CPI over the CM. While the IB strength of the CM-bonded particleboards was lower than the EN 319 requirement after the first four weeks of storage (0.34 N/mm2 and 0.29 N/mm2 for nitrite and bisulfate-crosslinked respectively), that of the CPI-bonded was still superior to the EN 319 after four months (0.44 N/mm2 and 0.3 N/mm2 for nitrite and bisulfate-crosslinked respectively). This indicates that the nitrite-crosslinked variants had a more robust chemical formulation, leading to stronger and more durable bonds.

In recent decades, there has been a growing concern about the excessive consumption on petroleum-based sources. Scientists are now focused on increasing the utilization of natural and renewable sources instead of nonrenewable ones to produce safety and environmentally friendly products. Their aim is to maintain and enhance product performance while also keeping production costs in check. Within this framework, natural-fiber insulation boards emerge as a trending topic and consequently, also the use of natural adhesives to supply them and reach an entirely friendly-environment product. Natural-fiber insulation material performance is typically evaluated by its mechanical and physical properties. Among them are bending, compression, tensile strength, density, water absorption, and thermal conductivity. Throughout the cited literature, a diversity of vegetal-origin fibers, especially wood-fibers and natural adhesive sources like lignin, tannins, and proteins for insulation materials has been found, which are constantly improved in order to reach a superior production scale. This work provides a summary of research that focuses on natural fiber insulation products as well as natural adhesives, pointing to Polylactic Acid (PLA).

The importance of creating eco-friendly and health-conscious materials has become paramount in striving to attain long-term development goals. For the past decades, constant efforts have been made to tackle the issue of formaldehyde release from wood-based panels which, to date, are still mainly produced from unsustainable synthetic adhesives. In the pursuit of sustainable and environmentally responsible adhesive solutions for the wood industry, sodium bisulfate, sodium bisulfite, and sodium nitrite were used under different heat treatment conditions as crosslinkers for canola protein-based bio-adhesive formulations. The developed adhesive formulations showed outstanding mechanical properties, with a viscosity below 4000 mPa/s despite the relatively high solid content, as well as excellent bonding performances. The one-layer particleboards bonded with the canola-based adhesive demonstrated outstanding mechanical properties, with the internal bonding and the bending strength values surpassing 0.60 N/mm2 and 10 N/mm2, respectively. Notably, the sodium nitrite-crosslinked variants exhibited significantly superior performance compared to the UF-bonded control boards. Longer incubation times generally improve bonding strength, with sodium nitrite showing the most pronounced effects. The results of this research showcase not only the possibility of developing a plant protein-based wood adhesive with high solid content, but also the potential superiority of canola protein-based wood adhesives when compared to conventional, synthetic counterparts. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing bio-based adhesives in wood composite manufacturing, highlighting sodium nitrite as a promising crosslinker for enhancing the adhesive’s performance.

Wood fiber insulation boards (WFIB) produced with natural binders have been gaining recognition as an eco-friendly material, however there is limited information on the effect of different wood fiber and sustainable binders on WFIB production. This study investigates the impact of density, wood fiber origin, and pertinency of polylactic acid (PLA) as a binder. Flexible WFIB with densities of 80, 100 and 120 kg/m3 were produced by hot-press method with fibers of pine and spruce as softwoods, and beech and birch as hardwoods. Bicomponent fibers, composed by two concentrical layers of polylactic acid (PLA) were utilized as a renewable-origin binder at a proportion of 10%. Technological properties such as short-term water absorption, compression test and thermal tests properties were assessed. The density of the WFIB significantly influences the water absorption, compression strength, and thermal conductivity, with all these values increasing as the density rises. Insulation boards made from hardwood fibers showed greater water absorption and compression values compared than their softwood counterparts. Softwood-WFIB single-samples with a density of 80 kg/m3 reported lower thermal conductivities than hardwoods ones. The present study shows the promising feasibility of producing flexible wood fiber insulation boards from natural fibers and polylactic acid as a renewable binder.

Abstract The importance of creating eco-friendly and health-conscious materials has become paramount in striving to attain long term development gaols. For the past decades, constant efforts have been made to tackle the issue of formaldehyde release from wood-based panels which, to date, are still mainly produced using unsustainable synthetic adhesives. In the pursuit of sustainable and environmentally responsible adhesive solutions for the wood industry, sodium bisulfate, sodium bisulfite, and sodium nitrite were used as crosslinkers for canola protein-based bio-adhesive formulations with superior binding properties for the production of particleboards. The developed adhesive formulations showed outstanding mechanical properties, with a viscosity below 4000 mPa/s despite the relatively high solid content, as well as excellent bonding performances. The one-layer particleboards bonded with the canola-based adhesive exhibited excellent mechanical properties, with values of the internal bonding and the bending strength above 0.60 N/mm2 and 10 N/mm2 respectively of the sodium nitrite-treated variants being significantly greater than that of the UF-bonded control boards. the SEM analysis revealed a good crystallisation of the adhesive in the wood-binder matrix. The results of this research showcase not only the possibility of developing a plant protein-based wood adhesive with high solid content, but also the potential superiority of canola protein-based wood adhesives when compared to conventional, synthetic counterparts. This study is a milestone in the field of eco-friendly adhesive technologies, opening new horizons for sustainable wood-based materials.

This study investigates the effects of various production parameters on the physical and mechanical properties of one-layer particleboards bonded with canola protein-based adhesives. Two protein-based adhesive formulations, CPI-B-0 with sodium bisulfate and CPI-N-60 with sodium nitrite crosslinkers, were examined under different conditions: binder content, press temperature, and press time factor. Results indicate that the CPI-N-60 outperformed the CPI-B-0 in terms of internal bonding strength (IB), modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) due to the stronger covalent bonds formed with primary amines present in the protein adhesive. Increasing binder content led to significant improvements in mechanical properties, with the internal bonding and the MOR increasing by 21

A lignin-based adhesive was developed with the formation of new C–O, C–N, and C–C bonds that contributed to adhesive performance on versatile substrates.

In the context of natural resource scarcity, environmental challenges and human health concerns, the development of alternative solutions becomes crucial to sustainable development. Sustainable and renewable protein-containing materials such as soy or canola have proved to have wood bonding properties comparable to those of synthetic binders. In addition, the availability of canola meal offers a great possibility for the development of bio-adhesives for the wood-based panel industry. Furthermore, direct utilization of canola meal helps to avoid expensive and low-yield protein isolation processes. Using three different solvent solutions (water and 1 mol and 2 mol sodium hydroxide), canola-based bio-adhesives were prepared and used for the production of medium-density fiberboards (with 10 mm thickness and 800 kg/m3 target density) and three-layer particleboards (with 15 mm thickness and 640 kg/m3 target density). The produced boards were tested for their mechanical properties and dimensional stability according to European norms. With the MDFs' bending strength values above 40 N/mm2 and internal bonding strength greater than 0.5 N/mm2, the results show that there is indeed a possibility to achieve good mechanical properties using canola meal as a binder. The use of NaOH solutions as denaturants, as well as the addition of colasol, helped improve the bonding properties of the boards by 35.49% and 64.52% for 1 mol and 2 mol NaOH solutions, respectively. The obtained results show that the developed canola-based bio-adhesive can compete with conventional ones. However, despite the good mechanical properties of the produced boards, their poor dimensional stability due to the low water resistance of natural proteins suggests further improvement for industrial application.

Consumers prefer foods that are healthier with high quality and safety. Food packaging are demanded to effectively extend the shelf-life, preserve the nutrients and decrease the microbial contamination during the transport and storage of food. With the increasing concern on the environmental impacts caused by food packaging wastes, sustainable and green packaging are highly demanded to minimize the harmful effects of food packaging waste on the environment. Bio-based materials are derived from sustainable and renewable biomass, instead of finite petrochemicals. The applications of bio-based materials for food packaging are highlighted in this review. The emphasis is placed on the categories of related biobased materials, their characteristics and advantages for food packaging, as well as the strategies used to improve their performances. Though a lot of trials have been done on biobased materials for food packaging, further attempts to improve their performances, understand the functioning mechanisms and develop greener methods for the production, processing and destiny of these bio-based materials are still highly needed for the future research.

Laccase-mediator-oxidized lignin offers replacement for conventional chemical binders to produce fiberboards. Compared to the previously reported laccase–mediator system (LMS), a lignin-laccase-mediator-system (LLMS) has an advantage in that it requires much shorter fiber-enzyme incubation time due to significantly increased redox reactions. However, the cost of regularly applying laccase on an industrial scale is currently too high. We have employed Cc Lcc5 from cultures of the basidiomycete Coprinopsis cinerea as a novel basi-laccase (a CAZy subfamily AA1_1 laccase) in medium-density fiberboard (MDF) production, in comparison to the commercial formulation Novozym 51003 with recombinantly produced asco-laccase Mt L (a CAZy subfamily AA1_3 laccase-like multicopper oxidase from the ascomycete Myceliophthora thermophila ). With the best-performing natural mediator 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMP), unpurified Cc Lcc5 was almost as good as formulated Novozym 51003 in increasing the molecular weight (MW) of the technical lignins tested, the hydrophilic high-MW Ca-lignosulfonate and the hydrophobic low-MW kraft lignin (Indulin AT). Oxygen consumption rates of the two distantly related, poorly conserved enzymes (31% sequence identity) with different mediators and lignosulfonate were also comparable, but Indulin AT significantly reduced the oxidative activity of Novozym 51003 unlike Cc Lcc5, regardless of the mediator used, either DMP or guaiacol. Oxygen uptake by both laccases was much faster with both technical lignins with DMP than with guaiacol. In case of lignosulfonate and DMP, 20–30 min of incubation was sufficient for full oxygen consumption, which fits in well in time with the usual binder application steps in industrial MDF production processes. LLMS-bonded MDF was thus produced on a pilot-plant scale with either crude Cc Lcc5 or Novozym 51003 at reduced enzyme levels of 5 kU/kg absolutely dry wood fiber with lignosulfonate and mediator DMP. Boards produced with Cc Lcc5 were comparably good as those made with Novozym 51003. Boards reached nearly standard specifications in internal bond strength (IB) and modulus of rupture (MOR), while thickness swelling (TS) was less good based on the hydrophilic character of lignosulfonate. LLMS-bonded MDF with Indulin AT and DMP performed better in TS but showed reduced IB and MOR values.

The thermal insulation of buildings using wood fiber insulation boards (WFIBs) constitutes a positive contribution towards climate change. Thereby, the bonding of wood fibers using mainly petrochemical-based resins such as polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI) is an important measure to meet required board properties. Still there is a need to reduce or partial substitute the amount of these kinds of resins in favor of a greener product. This study therefore focusses on the feasibility of reducing the amount of pMDI by 50% through the addition of 1% BioPiva 395 or Indulin as two types of softwood Kraft-Lignin and lignin rich canola hulls together with propylene carbonate as a diluent. A panel density of 160 kg/m(3) and a thickness of 40 mm was aimed. The curing of these modified pMDI was investigated by using two types of techniques: hot-steam (HS) and innovative hot-air/hot-steam-process (HA/HS). The WFIBs were then tested on their physical-mechanical properties. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was determined at two different climates. An exemplary investigation of thermal conductivity was conducted as well. The WFIBs did undergo a further chemically based analysis towards extractives content and elemental (C, N) composition. The results show that it is feasible to produce WFIBs with lower quantities of pMDI resin and added lignin with enhanced physical-mechanical board properties, which were lacking no disadvantages towards thermal conductivity or behavior towards moisture, especially when cured via HA/HS-process.

An albumin adhesive derived from animal blood was used for the first time for the production of two kinds of fiberboard in a dry process: medium density fiberboard (MDF) and wood fiber insulation board (WFI). Additionally, the curing for WFI was completed using an innovative hot-air/hot-steam (HA/HS) process. There is a general importance to develop alternatives to substitute common binding agents, such as urea formaldehyde (UF) or polymeric methylene diphenylene diisocyanate (pMDI) resins, and to develop value-added opportunities for such waste material from slaughterhouses. An adhesive analysis was performed to understand the curing reaction of these protein adhesives, which showed good properties in regards to viscosity or gel time. The physical mechanical results showed on the one hand that the albumin adhesive could compete with UF-bonded MDF regarding tensile strength and modulus of rupture in conformity to the European Standard, but it failed to meet requirements for thickness swelling. The albumin adhesive also can compete with pMDI bonded WFI regarding tensile and compression strength, but it showed non-viable results for short-term water absorption.

The problem of climate change, coupled to the propagation of wood diseases (bark beetles for example), is leading to a shortage in softwood supply for the particleboard industries. Furthermore, the recent changes in the German forest policies which promote the conversion of coniferous forest into mixed stands are likely to enhance this phenomenon. There is, therefore, a growing need for research on possibilities of substituting the softwood with hardwood and other alternative material. For the first time, young six to seven years old Black locust (Robinia pseudoaccacia) stems from a short-rotation plantation were used at a laboratory scale with the objective of assessing the suitability of particleboard production. Four different variants were produced using different resin types: UF K350, UF K340, albumin, and PMDI, with a target density and thickness of 650 kg/m3 and 20 mm respectively for each board. The boards were tested regarding their mechanical (modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity and internal bonding), physical (water absorption and thickness swelling) properties according to the European standard (EN 310, EN 317 and EN 319), and their formaldehyde content and emission following the EN 120 and EN 717. Industrial particles were used as reference material for the purpose of comparison. Promising bending strength was obtained with UF resins-bonded boards. The modulus of elasticity of all four variants fulfilled the EN 2003 requirements. The internal bond of the UF resins-bonded boards also met the general product standard, with values above 0.35 N/mm2. The bending strength and the internal bonding strength properties of the UF-bonded boards were superior to that of the reference boards produced with the industrial particles. Based on these results, black locust is a potential substitute for softwood in particleboard production and can be used in the industry as alternative raw material for panel production.

Canola meal as a by-product from the vegetable oil production provides a protein-rich material which is available in large quantities but with limited areas for application. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of utilizing canola meal adhesive for the production of wood fiber insulation boards (WFI) using the hot-air/hot-steam-process. WFI with two different thicknesses (40/60 mm) and different densities (110/140/160/180 kg/m³) were manufactured. The testing focused on their physical-mechanical properties such as internal bond strength (IB), compressive strength (CS) and short-term water absorption (ST-WA) measured according to European standards. For a better understanding of the material and curing dynamics, the canola meal was analyzed on its protein content, lignin and pentosane content as well as its extractives content using hot water, cold water and successive extraction. Using a canola meal based adhesive resulted in promising results for IB and CS up to density of 140 kg/m³. Nonetheless, there is place for improvement for the ST-WA.