Borates and their applications to preserve wood-based composites

Wood and any items made from the wood may be destroyed by biologic and abiotic factors in unsuitable conditions. So far, different materials and methods have been developed to improve disadvantages of wood. Nowadays researchers are looking for safe and eco-friendly preservatives due to the public concerns about negative impacts of old ones. Borates are good candidate for new generation of wood preservatives due to the low acute toxicity for mammalians. Borates have board-spectrum efficacy, they are not only fungicide and insecticide but also act as a fire retardant. They are easily dissolved in water and can be diffused deeper into the wood over the time. This is also their biggest disadvantage. Preservatives based on the borate formulations may be easily leached out from the treated wood in the outdoor applications. Today, despite the problems coming from their leaching, they are widely used to protect wood and in particular wood-based composites due to their low toxicity. This study attempts to review the latest research on the possibility of using borates as pesticides and fire retardant in the industry of wood-based composites. Borates have a great potential for protecting wooden composites which are currently commercially used.