Authors:

Logan Kitts

Date Created:

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About Paper:

Zein protein is a polymer found in corn and when mixed with plant phenolic compounds such as lignin and tannic acid, create an adhesive replacement for synthetic adhesives that can perform on par with said synthetic adhesives in a variety of environments. These plant-based adhesives can be more cost effective, environmentally sustainable, biodegradable, and non-toxic. In this project, the zein protein-based adhesives are evaluated at different pHs. Each pH sample is tested through lap shear testing, and each sample is kept in a variety of environments such as at room temperature, underwater, and oven cured prior to testing. The adhesion data from resulting lap shear testing can be related to composition, strength, color, pH, and age of the sample. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is also used analyze samples from a molecular view to find and create further correlations between composition, strength, color, pH, and age of the samples. The results of the testing showed promising results for use of the zein protein-based adhesives in oven cured and room temperature environments for increased strength. Results also showed that underwater samples containing lignin seemed to decrease in strength over various samples. Further testing on similarly correlated formulations could open a future path forward in providing plant-based adhesives as an environmentally safe and non-toxic alternative to synthetic adhesives with little to no loss in strength.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

Topics:

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Co-authors:

Logan Kitts