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Innovations
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Better Bonding with Beans Valerie J. Brown Abstract
Since the 1930s formaldehyde has been a main component in the adhesives used to make engineered woods such as plywood and particleboard. This widely used industrial chemical causes a wide range of human health effects, however. Now scientists at Oregon State University and their industry partners have developed a new adhesive in which soy proteins are cross-linked with a proprietary resin to produce an adhesive that is nontoxic, economically attractive, and based on an inexpensive, readily available, renewable resource. Although the new adhesive is now being used only for interior woods, work is under way to develop processes that can make exterior-grade engineered woods formaldehyde-free as well.
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