{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T05:07:35Z","timestamp":1788930455904,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Zhejiang University of Science and Technology","award":["F701103N13"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F701103N13"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang University of Science and Technology","award":["F701103N09"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F701103N09"]}]},{"award":["F701103N13"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F701103N13"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05mx0wr29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["F701103N09"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F701103N09"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05mx0wr29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["31100420"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31100420"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["31100420"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31100420"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cornhusks are widely employed as reinforcing fillers in biocomposite fabrication, where conventional manufacturing processes rely on petroleum-derived resins or adhesives. This reliance not only poses substantial risks to human health and ecological environments, but also leads to the unsatisfactory mechanical performance of the final products. Developing a feasible strategy to eliminate petroleum-based binders while simultaneously enhancing the mechanical strength of the biocomposites remains a challenge. In this paper, we present an adhesive-free approach to produce high-performance, sustainable biomass structural materials directly from raw cornhusks, without prior pulverization, via a combined alkaline retting and hot-pressing treatment. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of highly aligned cellulose fibers and a densely compacted multi-layer structure, the resulting structural material exhibits a tensile strength of 136 MPa and a flexural strength of 127 MPa. These values are higher than those of conventional density fiberboards (approximately 20 MPa and 40 MPa). After 72 h of water immersion, the material shows a water absorption rate of 38% and a thickness swelling rate of 16%, both of which are lower than the corresponding parameters of traditional density fiberboards (around 60% and 20%). Its initial thermal degradation temperature reaches 251 \u00b0C, showing good thermal stability. Furthermore, the as-fabricated cornhusk-based structural material, which combines high mechanical strength, water resistance, and thermal resistance, exhibits zero formaldehyde emissions. It can serve as a promising alternative to traditional petroleum-bonded biomass density boards, for applications in furniture manufacturing and interior decoration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym18172176","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T09:23:37Z","timestamp":1788773017000},"page":"2176","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Adhesive-Free Cornhusk-Based Biocomposites via Alkali Retting\u2013Pressing Strategy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Rongbo","family":"Zheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological & Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Kairui","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Forest Products Quality Inspection and Industry Service Guarantee Center, Xi\u2019an 710082, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Ning","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi Forest Products Quality Inspection and Industry Service Guarantee Center, Xi\u2019an 710082, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Jiaofeng","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological & Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xuelian","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biological & Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1016\/0960-8524(92)90151-M","article-title":"Mechanical and thermal properties of particleboards made from farm residues","volume":"40","author":"Sampathrajan","year":"1992","journal-title":"Bioresour. 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