Alipon attends global wood adhesives meet
Dr. Marina A. Alipon, Scientist I, recently delivered a scientific paper at the 2013 International Conference on Wood Adhesives at the Intercontinental Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Entitled “Performance Evaluation of Various Adhesives on Engineered Bamboo”, Alipon’s study determined some important physical and mechanical properties of kawayan tinik (Bambusa blumeana J.A. and J.H. Schultes) and giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper (Schultes f.) Backer ex Heyne) glued with polyvinyl acetate (PVac), both water-resistant and for indoor use, and urea formaldehyde (UF).
According to Alipon, the conference – which is held every four to five years – is an excellent forum for scientific and technical exchange among wood adhesives experts worldwide. This year, the emphasis was on earth-friendly adhesives, and the more effective use of wood resources.
“The challenge is to produce cost-effective adhesives that are environment-friendly. While efforts have been focused on lessening formaldehyde emissions, the strong recommendation is to shift to bark tannins as substitute to UF glues. This is something we can work on at FPRDI in the near future,” she said.
Two hundred eleven participants from 27 countries attended the conference, representing both the industry and the academe. (Rizalina K. Araral, 20 December 2013) #
