Natural Rubber-Based Wood Adhesive to Support Green Buildings

Natural rubber is a biopolymer obtained from the sap of Hevea braziliensis. The material is abundantly available in Indonesia. It has long been known and used as an adhesive, even though it has poor adhesion and cohesion properties, and poor resistance to stress, heat and moisture. However, when technology is applied to the natural rubber, it can improve the qualiy of natural rubber as an adhesive, so that natural rubber-based adhesives of good adhesion property is produced. Wood adhesive is one of important parts in wood panels or wood composites industries. It has a great contribution on the price of wood panels, because it can reach as much as 80% of the total production cost of the panels. Recently, the most widely used wood adhesives are synthetic and formaldehyde bearing adhesives, which might be harmful to human due to formaldehyde emission during the process and the service life of the adhesives. The use of natural rubber as an alternative source of wood adhesive contributes to the development of greener buildings and environment, because the material is renewable, water-based, and has very low or no formaldehyde emission. The 3rd International Symposium for Sustainable Humanosphere (ISSH) A Forum of Humanosphere Science School (HSS). Bengkulu, 17 -18 September 2013. Hal. 187-194 ISSN 2088-9127