Innovations discovered at Purdue University are being commercialized to improve radiation detection and make adhesives and sealants safer.
Officials at the Chicago-based startup Sagamore-Adams Laboratories LLC say innovations and discoveries in Purdue University’s Colleges of Engineering & Science are being commercialized for offering the adhesives and sealants industry a “green,” reduced-cost alternative to VOC-based state-of-the-ar. The new technology offers unsurpassed functionality for use in diverse arenas such as for manufacturing automobiles, plywood, particle boards, metal and composite structures, and in home construction.
Sagamore-Adams Laboratories calls the "green" adhesive-sealant PLATech because it is made from non-petroleum-based feedstocks like corn, wheat or sugar cane, and is biodegradable under composting conditions.
Rusi Taleyarkhan, chief technology officer at Sagamore-Adams Laboratories and a Purdue professor of nuclear engineering, says, “Some adhesives and sealants are very toxic, and people might breathe in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while making and using them.”
Taleyarkhan said PLATech is designed to be safer than conventional adhesives and sealants, to work equally well, and to have a competitive price point.