Volume 77, Issue 7

The physical, chemical and biological properties of wood depend on the supramolecular assembly of cellulose microfibrils (CMFs), hemicelluloses (HCs) and lignin in the growing cell walls. Based on the 13 C-tracer studies of ginkgo xylem formation, a hypothetical scenario for the role of monolignol glucosides (MLGs) in the assembly is proposed as follows: (1) Both moieties, aglycone monolignols and glycone d -glucose ( d -Glc), play essential roles in a cooperative manner in delivery of hydrophobic and highly reactive p -hydroxycinnamyl- (H), coniferyl- (G) alcohols to the hydrophilic site of lignin deposition. (2) The d -Glc liberated at lignification site is converted into essential HCs mainly via Golgi apparatus under the influence of diurnally changing turgor pressure, and partly converted in the apoplast. (3) At cell corner middle lamella, a pressure-resistant layer of HG-lignin-HCs-CMFs is formed, and allows expansion of new cells in cambium region by elevation of turgor pressure. The deformable G-lignin-HCs-CMFs layer at secondary wall shrinks by dehydration of the swollen gel of HCs-CMFs during differentiation, and contributes posture control of standing tree. On-demand quick supply of a large amount of monolignols and HCs can be achieved by the large storage and delivery of MLGs in the growing ginkgo xylem.

The wood–water interactions of welded bond-lines of European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) and Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) were in this paper studied for the first time with dynamic vapour sorption equipment. The aim of this study was to characterize the water sorption in the welded bond-line and to define to which extent it deviates from water sorption of the unwelded wood. The objective was to provide deepened knowledge about water sorption of the welded bond-line, which could be used to improve the moisture resistance of welded wood in the future. The welded wood generally had lower equilibrium moisture contents than the unwelded wood. The welded bond-lines of beech and pine showed greater hysteresis than the unwelded wood from 0 to 55 % relative humidity. All specimens showed faster adsorption than desorption. However, the welded wood showed slower adsorption but faster desorption than unwelded wood. The time to complete half of the fractional change in moisture content ( E ( t ) = 0.5) increased as the moisture content increased. The adsorption diffusion coefficients of beech and welded beech were higher than those of pine and welded pine up to 50 % and 40 % RH, respectively. In desorption, pine had a higher diffusion coefficient than beech in the whole range of 85–0 % RH. Analogously, welded pine had a higher diffusion coefficient than welded beech in the range of 85–5 % RH. In contrast to the desorption, the welded wood always had lower adsorption diffusion coefficients than the corresponding unwelded wood. The diffusion coefficients showed irregular patterns in some ranges of the RH. Therefore, it was hard to make a clear conclusion about the water-sorption behaviour of the specimens based on the defined diffusion coefficients.

The single exponential kinetics (SEK) and parallel exponential kinetics (PEK) models were fitted to kinetic sorption data of welded and unwelded Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.). Furthermore, diffusion coefficients of water vapour in wood were determined using two different Fickian diffusion solutions. The objective was to identify how well these models could represent the moisture contents of the specimens and to characterize differences between the sorption behaviour of welded and unwelded wood. This knowledge can be used to enhance the moisture resistance of welded wood, develop drying schedules, and improve the quality of timbers. The PEK and SEK models provided the most precise and the second most precise fits to the sorption kinetic data, respectively. The two Fickian models are equivalent when both the infinite series are truncated at n = 10 $n=10$ . The Fickian models also exhibited the highest discrepancy with the experimental data. Nevertheless, the Fickian models fit relatively better to the sorption data of the welded wood than to that of the unwelded wood. This behaviour may be due to the rigid and less-swelling structure of the welded bond line.

Vanillin is an antifungal and environmentally friendly compound. In this study, vanillin and silica microcapsules (VSM) were microencapsulated using the sol-gel method and then impregnated into wood. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the morphological structure and distribution of VSM in wood. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study the intermolecular interactions between VSM and wood. The antifungal performance of the VSM-treated wood was evaluated. The study revealed that VSM had good sustained-release performance and decay resistance. Mass losses of VSM-treated wood after leaching and exposure to Trametes versicolor (L.) Quel. and Gloephyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill decreased from mass losses of 20.8 % and 15.9 % of the control group to 9.2 % and 6.4 %, respectively. VSM treatment disrupted the mycelium of T. versicolor and G. trabeum , inhibited their respiratory metabolism, and the ligninase-laccase enzyme activity of T. versicolor . Meanwhile, MOR and MOE of VSM-treated wood were 96.7 MPa and 12.3 GPa which were 28.8 % and 11.5 % higher than the control group, respectively.

A treatment to improve the reaction to fire of wood is the wood mineralization. Besides the reaction to fire of the mineralized wood, other mechanical and physical properties are less investigated. In this study, beech and oak were treated in a 2-step mineralization process to obtain calcium oxalate mineralized wood. The 2-step mineralization process is carried out by impregnating two salts diluted in water into the wood, consecutively. Two formulations were applied. For Formulation 1, potassium oxalate and calcium acetate and for Formulation 2 potassium oxalate and calcium chloride were used. Aim of the study is to investigate the impact of the treatments and in combination of the moisture on some selected properties of the mineralized wood. These properties are the swelling due to the mineralization treatment, the Brinell hardness and the volatile organic compounds emissions. The 2-step mineralization treatments increased the moisture adsorption of wood. However, the removal of unreacted precursors due to leaching provides a material with comparable moisture dynamics to untreated wood. Swelling, hardness and volatile organic compounds emissions are decreased by the mineralization. However, leaching of the reaction by-products leads to a material with comparable properties to those of untreated wood.

Tree bark is normally a side-stream product but by an integrated bark biorefinery approach, valuable compounds may be recovered and used to replace fossil-based products. Norway spruce bark was extracted to obtain cellulose, which was chemically treated to produce cellulose oxalate (COX) which was homogenized to yield nanocellulose. The nanocellulose was used to produce Pickering emulsions with almond oil and hexadecane as organic phases. COX from dissolving pulp was used to study the effect of various raw materials on the emulsifying properties. The COX samples of bark and dissolving pulp contained a significant amount of hemicelluloses, which affected the viscosity results. The emulsion properties were affected by the organic phases and the aspect ratio. Emulsions using hexadecane were more stable than the emulsions using almond oil. Since the aspect ratio of bark was lower than that of the dissolving pulp, the emulsifying properties of the COX dissolving pulp was better. It has been shown that nanocellulose from cellulose oxalate of both spruce bark and dissolving pulp is a promising substitute for petroleum-based emulsifiers and surfactants. By utilizing bark, value-added products can be produced which may be economically beneficial for various industries in the future and their aim for climate-neutral products.

Interfacial solar-driven steam generation is one of the most promising techniques used to produce clean water. However, achieving rapid water evaporation using solar steam generation devices is challenging because of their two-dimensional (2D) planar structures and confined evaporation areas. The three-dimensional (3D) structural design of evaporation devices improves water evaporation rates, thereby enhancing solar-driven steam generation. This study developed a 3D wood-based evaporator through 3D structure shaping and the flexible treatment of wood that involved coating photothermal materials with tannic acid. Because of the ampliative evaporation area and outstanding absorption, the water evaporation rate of the prepared 3D wood-based evaporator was as high as 2.5 kg m −2  h −1 , and the efficiency of energy transformation was up to 101 % under simulated 1-sun irradiation; the evaporation rate and efficiency of energy transformation were considerably higher than those of 2D planar wood evaporators. Furthermore, the effective seawater desalination performance and good durability of the 3D wood-based evaporator were demonstrated. This study provides different insights into the fabrication of high-efficiency wood-based solar steam generators with high prospects for application in seawater desalination.