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We are working to develop a domestic natural rubber crop in Ohio and for the U.S.

Natural rubber is a vital resource for any developed country and is used in over 40,000 commercial products. By 2020 the USA may suffer a supply shortfall of 1.5 million metric tons of imported natural rubber. While the use of synthetic rubber has surpassed natural rubber in quantity, there are particular properties and high-performance applications that make natural rubber irreplaceable by synthetic rubber.

Cornish Lab Group is a joint program comprised of both Hort & Crop and Ag Engineering PI's and graduate students.

Did you know............. Cornish Lab hand planted approximately 61 miles of Buckeye Gold in 2013. Thats a lot of dandelions!

OSU's Rubber Pilot Plant produces high quality rubber for the tire industry and medical quality latex hypoallergenic gloves.

 

 

News

  1. Natural Rubber Biosecurity and Biodiversification

    Jul 29, 2019

    Natural rubber is an extremely important, agricultural resource vital to all modern economies. It is curiously underappreciated because many people assume that all rubber is synthetic. However, the total rubber market is about 45 % natural rubber because synthetic rubber, which is made from fossil reserves, cannot replace natural rubber in many applications.  Click here to read more.

  2. Katrina Cornish receives BioEnvironmental Polymer Society Lifetime Achievement Award

    Jun 19, 2019

    Katrina Cornish, an Ohio Research Scholar and Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), recently received the BioEnvironmental Polymer Society Lifetime Achievement Award for scientific excellence and impact in the field.  Click here to read more!

  3. Hat trick: Katrina Cornish receives 3 Innovator of the Year Awards

    Jun 19, 2019

    Institute for Materials Research faculty member Katrina Cornish received in quick succession three accolades for her impact in innovative research at The Ohio State University.  Cornish, an Ohio Research Scholar and Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), received three Innovator of the Year awards between late April and mid May.  Click here to read more.

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