Oregon State University researchers developed new wood adhesives modeled after the way mussels stick to rocks even under the hard wash of ocean waves. Wood Science and Engineering professor Kaichang Li searched for a natural material that could imitate the Mussel's adhesive protein but is more readily available. His eureka moment came while eating tofu. From the press release:
Soy beans, from which tofu are made, are a crop that's abundantly produced in the U.S. and has a very high content of protein," Li said. Soy protein is inexpensive and renewable, but it lacks the unique amino acid with phenolic hydroxyl groups that provide 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 water-resistant wood adhesives from renewable natural materials using mussel protein as a model…
One of these patented adhesives is currently cost-competitive with a commonly used urea-formaldehyde resin, researchers say, but does not use formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals…
"The plywood we make with this adhesive can be boiled for several hours and the adhesive holds as strong as ever," Li said. "Regular plywood bonded with urea-formaldehyde resins could never do that."
UPDATE: Thanks to Ken Shane and another Ken and the other readers who point out that this story sounds like episode #83 of the classic Odd Couple. In "A Barnacle Adventure," Oscar's dentist invents a new kind of glue based on the sea creature's stickiness.
