Considerable improvement in moisture resistance might be needed to help the plywood stand up in outdoor settings, Imam says. But for conditions harsher than most indoor settings, his birch veneer plywoods measured up to commercial ones. In these tests, he first stored the plywood samples at normal or high humidities for a month or soaked them in water for 2 hours. Then he measured the force needed to pull the layers apart. In 98 percent of samples from each of the storage environments, the adhesive proved stronger than the wood.
More research is needed to determine the commercial potential of the new adhesive.
Accordingly, ARS is seeking cooperators to speed the technology for defined uses.