Wood modification research in Europe

Wood modification research began in the first half of the 20^th century, when Stamm and co-workers published their comprehensive research for the first time. Due to restrictions on biocides and the use of tropical hardwoods in many European countries, new research activities in this research area evolved in the 1990s. In those days the relatively small group of researchers felt strongly that there was need for a better exchange of knowledge with international colleagues and they organized themselves into the European Network on Wood Modification. A first international conference of this network was held in Ghent, Belgium in 2003.

In the last decades, many wood modification processes have made their way from the laboratory to production level. Nowadays, approximately 300,000–400,000 m³ of modified wood is produced throughout Europe and although the amount produced in other parts of the world, mainly China, are not known, it would, at the very least, be in the same range. Nevertheless, the sector is growing very slowly. The possible reasons for this are diverse: consumer perceptions about new materials; the unknown properties of the materials; the lack of experience of using the material; the higher prices of modified wood than untreated wood or biocide-treated wood; the high investment costs of specialized equipment, to mention just a few.

Currently, it is even more important for the research community to exchange their knowledge about the behavior of new materials, about the new processes and improvement of existing processes, about environmental profiles, market perceptions, and so forth.

Nowadays, wood modification research is no longer performed by a small group of researchers, but by a research community, worldwide, which has grown considerably. Since the first European Conference on Wood Modification (ECWM) in 2003, this international event, with worldwide participation, is organized approximately every second year, with the most recent meeting having been held in Arnhem, the Netherlands in the autumn of 2018. The conference was co-organized by the European COST Action FP1407. A selection from the most interesting papers from this conference was collated for this special issue of Holzforschung/Wood Research and Technology. The scientific committee of the ECWM have selected papers which were presented at this conference demonstrating the broad perspective of wood modification research, ranging from fundamental research on chemicals and new principles to process development and market aspects.

We hope you find your area of interest in this research, and look forward to meeting you at the 10^th ECWM in Nancy, France in November 2020. Thanks for the support in selecting and reviewing the papers for this issue are expressed to the Scientific Committee of ECWM, Prof. Joris van Acker, Prof. Callum Hill, Dr. Dennis Jones, Boke Tjeerdsma and Dr. Andreja Kutnar as Chair of COST FP 1407.