Binder compositions and uses thereof

1. An assembly of matter selected from mineral fibers, cellulosic particle material and cellulosic sheet material bonded together by:

a) an aqueous curable binder composition comprising a polysaccharide and an azetidinium crosslinker and optionally at least one reaction product resulting from crosslinking between the polysaccharide and the azetidinium crosslinker, or

b) a binder composition obtained by subjecting to curing conditions an aqueous curable binder composition comprising a polysaccharide and an azetidinium crosslinker and optionally at least one reaction product resulting from crosslinking between the polysaccharide and the azetidinium crosslinker;

wherein the aqueous curable binder composition is characterized by one or more of the following features:

i) wherein the binder composition further comprises a crosslinker capable of undergoing radical polymerization and optionally a free radical initiator for initiation of crosslinking reactions between saccharide residues, where the crosslinker capable of undergoing radical polymerization is selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, acrylate, acrylonitrile, bisphenol acrylics, carbohydrate monomers, fluorinated acrylics, maleimide and mixtures thereof:

ii) wherein the binder composition further comprises a crosslinker capable of undergoing radical polymerization, where the further crosslinker comprises 1-40% by weight (wt. %) of the total dry weight of the binder composition; and

iii) wherein the binder composition further comprises a crosslinker capable of undergoing radical polymerization and optionally a free radical initiator selected from the group consisting of inorganic peroxides, organic peroxides, reducing agents, azo compounds, redox initiators, photo-initiators, and mixtures thereof, where the further crosslinker comprises 0.05-5% by weight (wt. %) of the total dry weight of the binder composition;

wherein the assembly of matter comprises a mineral fiber insulation article or a composite wood board article;

wherein the polysaccharide comprises 2-10,000 naturally occurring saccharide units selected from the group consisting of cellulose, partially hydrolysed cellulose, fully hydrolysed cellulose, chitin, crude starch, starch derivatives and mixtures thereof; and

wherein the dry weight ratio of the polysaccharide to the azetidinium crosslinker in the curable binder composition comprises a ratio of 98/2 to 60/40.

2. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the polysaccharide comprises 2-5000 naturally sourced saccharide units selected from the group consisting of cellulose, partially hydrolyzed cellulose, fully hydrolyzed cellulose, chitin, crude starch, starch derivatives and mixtures thereof.

3. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the azetidinium crosslinker comprises a polyazetidinium comprising at least two monomeric units of the general formula

wherein R 1 comprises a C 1 -C 25 alkanediyl group optionally substituted with a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group or an amino group,

R 2 comprises independently R 1 or —R 3 —NH—C(O)—R 4 —, wherein R 3 and R 4 comprise independently C 1 -C 25 alkanediyl,

Y 1 and Y 3 comprise independently H or a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group optionally substituted with a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group or an amino group,

Y 2 comprises a hydroxyl group or independently Y 1 , and

X − comprises a halogen counter ion.

4. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the dry weight ratio of the polysaccharide to the azetidinium crosslinker comprises a ratio of 98/2 to 70/30.

5. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , further comprising one or more coupling agents, dyes, antifungal agents, antibacterial agents, hydrophobes, metal oxide nanoparticles of MgO, CaO, Al 2 O 3 and/or CaCO 4 , nanoclays of montmorillonite, bentonite, kaolinite, hectorite, halloysite and/or organically modified nanoclays, and mixtures thereof.

6. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the mineral fiber insulation article comprises a mineral wool mat.

7. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the composite wood board article comprises a wood fiber board, a wood particle board, or plywood.

8. The assembly of matter of claim 1 , wherein the dry weight ratio of the polysaccharide to the azetidinium crosslinker in the curable binder composition comprises a ratio of 95/5 to 75/25.