July 04, 2005
Corn Countertops from "Cornboard"
If recycled paper countertops or lava countertops aren't exotic enough for you, how about counters made out of corn husks? Corn husks are normally a waste product, and they are more readily available than hemp or wood fiber. Thus it makes sense to try and do something with them.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, cornhusks are being used as the key ingredient in a new form of particleboard they're working on. Appropriately, it's called Cornboard. The husks don't require any special preperation to be used in the particleboard manufacturing process. A polymer resin binds the fribrous corn components. The finished composite works for structural applications and can even be used in the home, such as for countertops.
More information at: http://www.otm.uiuc.edu/techs/techdetail.asp?id=124
Source: July/August 2005 edition of Smart HomeOwner 
