An environmentally friendly multifunctional soy protein adhesive composed of rosin acid derivative inspired from organic-inorganic hybrid structure

Abstract Soy protein adhesives have the advantages of low price and renewability but are limited by terrible bonding strength and poor water resistance, which restricts the practical application. Herein, inspired by the structure of mussels and organic-inorganic hybrid strengthening mechanism, a novel and bio-based soy protein adhesive (SPI-RA-CSA) based on rosin acid derivative and calcium sulfoaluminate was generated. According to the optimization of response surface methodology (RSM), the best proportion of adhesive SPI-RA6-CSA1 was chosen. The dry and wet shear strengths of SPI-RA6-CSA1 adhesive reached 1.52 and 1.35 MPa, respectively, which were 70% and 210% higher than original soy protein adhesive. Meanwhile, SPI-RA6-CSA1 adhesive showed excellent coating performance even if it was coated on wet wood veneer. In addition, SPI-RA6-CSA1 adhesive effectively inhibited the formation of mold and exhibited outstanding antimicrobial ability for Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ) and Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) with antimicrobial rates of 87.36% and 85.73%, respectively. What’s more, SPI-RA6-CSA1 adhesive demonstrated prominent flame retardant properties reducing the harm of fire accidents. SPI-RA6-CSA1 adhesive also possessed the characteristics of low energy consumption and environmentally friendliness by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Therefore, this simple strategy provides workable guidance for the production of multifunctional and green soy protein adhesive.