Natural Adhesive May Revolutionize Panels

Researchers from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, Corvallis, have developed soy-based, formaldehyde-free adhesives they claim could revolutionize the wood products industry and have important environmental and economic benefits.

The research has already resulted in three pending patents. The first commercial application of the adhesive is at Columbia Forest Products, Eugene, Or., where it is being used to make decorative veneer-core and hardwood plywood panels.

"This new adhesive provides a cost-competitive solution to increasing moisture resistance without urea formaldehyde," said v.p. of sales and marketing Ed Woods. He said that Columbia currently produces formaldehyde-free panels in two of its facilities and plans a complete conversion in one year.

The research is based on the observations of Kaichang Li, an OSU assistant professor who noticed how mussels cling tenaciously to rocks despite being pounded by ocean waves.

"I was amazed at the ability of these small mollusks to attach themselves so strongly to rocks," said Li, who is an expert in wood chemistry and adhesives in the Department of Wood Science and Engineering. "I didn't know of any other type of adhesive that could work this well in water and withstand so much force."

The secret, Li discovered, was an unusual protein combination in the tenacles of mussels that allows them to attach themselves to rocks and other surfaces under water.

"Clearly, the mussels have evolved with the ability to make this protein so they can cling to rocks despite wave forces," Li said. The mussel protein is a superior adhesive, but is not readily available. Soy beans have a protein that can be adapted for this purpose and are widely grown in the U.S.

Soy protein is inexpensive and renewable, but it lacks the unique amino acid that provides adhesive properties. Li's research group was able to add these amino acids to soy protein and make it work like a mussel-protein adhesive. Then they began to develop other strong and waterresistant wood adhesives from renewable natural materials using mussel protein as a model.

The new wood adhesives are made from natural resources such as soy flour and lignin. They could replace the formaldehyde-based wood adhesives used to make some composite products such as plywood, OSB, particleboard, and laminated veneer lumber products.

One of these patented adhesives is cost-competitive with commonly used urea-formaldehyde resin, researchers say, but does not use formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals. Formaldehyde fumes are associated with some health problems, including eye and throat irritation, and has been shown to be a human carcinogen.

The other key advantage of the new adhesives is their superior strength and water resistance. "The plywood we make with this adhesive can be boiled for several hours and the adhesive holds as strong as ever," Li said. "Plywood bonded with urea-formaldehyde resins could never do that."

More than $2 billion a year is spent on wood adhesives in the forest products industry in the U.S. and Canada.

"Based on the successful commercial application of our adhesives, the wood adhesive industry and wood products industry are going to see some major changes in the next few years," Li predicted.

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