Recent Advances in Wood Modification and Wood Functionalization Research

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 1459

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Wood Technology and Technical Sciences, Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky 4, 9400 Sopron, Hungary
Interests: physical, mechanical, and anatomical wood properties; hygroscopic properties; biopolymers; wood modification processes (compression, heat treatment, lactic acid and acetic anhydride treatment); hardwoods; wood drying

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Sopron, Hungary
Interests: wood modification; wood structure and properties; hygroscopic properties; nanotechnology; durability; biopolymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Wood Technology and Technical Sciences, Faculty of Wood Engineering and Creative Industries, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky 4, 9400 Sopron, Hungary
Interests: wood structure and properties; drying and modification of wood; abiotic degradation of wood; hardwoods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Today, with the significant increase in demand for wood worldwide, which cannot be matched by the supply of sustainable wood resources, there is a growing emphasis on the ability of wood modification to enhance the lifetime of many wood products. At the same time, as a renewable raw material source, there is demand for a wide range of products obtained from softwoods and hardwoods, which have so far been produced using non-renewable raw materials. As a result, a wide range of developments in wood modification are emerging, and could lead later to a number of new market products. The aim of this Special Issue is to present a wide range of wood modification technologies, from the long forgotten (e.g., wood bending via compression along the grain) to the extremely novel (e.g., increasing hydrophobicity using nanomaterial treatment). This Special Issue will also address the functionalization of wood and other lignocellulosic materials, which is becoming increasingly vital in our modern world. The developed lignocellulosic materials may be employed in the furniture industry, construction and packaging, and as bioplastics (aeronautics, defense, transport equipment, biomedicine, etc.), among other applications. However, further research is required before the non-biodegradable products made of steel, glass, carbon and plastics that are currently utilized can be replaced, due to a lack of adequate technologies. This Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances in the field of diverse wood modification technologies and the research results that support them in order to obtain high-performance bio-based materials and composites.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Modification of solid wood;
  • Biocomposites and wood-based products;
  • Nanomaterials in wood and wood-based materials;
  • Chemical modification processes;
  • Natural fibers;
  • Plasma treatment;
  • Fungal mycelium treatment;
  • Enzymatic treatment;
  • Combined modification processes;
  • Functionalization of wood or its surface;
  • Weather resistant wood and wood-based materials;
  • Dimensionally stable wood and wood-based materials;
  • Wood and wood-based materials with improved decay resistance;
  • Application of wood and wood-based products;
  • Destructive and non-destructive testing of wood;
  • Future perspectives for innovative approaches to wood modification;
  • Currently unused modification technologies.

We look forward to receiving your valuable manuscripts. If you require any assistance with the submission process or with manuscript preparation, please do not hesitate to contact the Guest Editors or the Assistant Editor of our Special Issue.

Dr. Mátyás Báder
Dr. Miklós Bak
Prof. Dr. Róbert Németh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wood modification
  • nanomaterials
  • plasma treatment
  • fungal mycelium treatment
  • enzymatic treatment
  • combined modification methods
  • novel modification methods
  • high-performance wood-based materials
  • lignocellulosic raw materials
  • biopolymers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5420 KiB  
Article
Coatings Adhesion on Chemically Modified Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Woods
by Adefemi Adebisi Alade, Christoph Hoette and Holger Militz
Forests 2024, 15(3), 526; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15030526 - 13 Mar 2024
Viewed by 577
Abstract
Synergizing coating and wood modification is a promising concept to develop wood products that have multi-qualities that include excellent dimensional stability, durability, and weathering resistance. However, the nature of the modified substrate is a critical parameter for coating adhesion. Chemical modification of wood [...] Read more.
Synergizing coating and wood modification is a promising concept to develop wood products that have multi-qualities that include excellent dimensional stability, durability, and weathering resistance. However, the nature of the modified substrate is a critical parameter for coating adhesion. Chemical modification of wood impacts the physicochemical properties of the wood, which could in turn impact the adhesion of coatings. Therefore, this study investigated the adhesion of seven different coatings to Pinus sylvestris L. woods chemically modified through esterification with acetic anhydride (acetylated), etherification with 1.3-dimethylol-4.5-dihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU), and esterification with sorbitol/citric acid formulation (SorCA). The selected coatings include water-based and solvent-based examples with different binder constituents that include acrylate, alkyd, natural oil, and hybrids. Coating adhesion to the modified wood was evaluated in terms of crosscut resistance to detachment, wear-resistant hardness, and pull-off strength. Chemical modifications yielded positive impacts on coating adhesion compared to unmodified wood. Coatings adhered better to acetylated and DMDHEU-modified P. sylvestris wood than on SorCA-modified wood. Solvent-based coatings had higher adhesion strength on the acetylated, DMDHEU-modified, and unmodified woods than water-based coatings. On the other hand, water-based coatings mostly adhered better to SorCA-modified wood compared to solvent-based coating. Overall, the coating of chemically modified P. sylvestris wood is promising for the development of an enhanced wood protection system. Full article
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15 pages, 2684 KiB  
Article
Water-Related Properties of Wood after Thermal Modification in Closed Process under Pressure in Nitrogen
by Guntis Sosins, Juris Grinins, Prans Brazdausks and Janis Zicans
Forests 2024, 15(1), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15010140 - 09 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 615
Abstract
Silver birch (Betula pendula) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) wood boards (1000 × 100 × 25 mm) were thermally modified in a 340 L pilot-scale device in nitrogen with a special focus on increasing dimensional stability and reducing hydrophilicity. [...] Read more.
Silver birch (Betula pendula) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) wood boards (1000 × 100 × 25 mm) were thermally modified in a 340 L pilot-scale device in nitrogen with a special focus on increasing dimensional stability and reducing hydrophilicity. The research expands our understanding of the TM process in a closed system under pressure of nitrogen and its impact on the water absorption capabilities of wood. Several thermal modification (TM) parameters were tested, including temperature (160–180 °C), maximum temperature duration (30–180 min), and TM chamber initial pressure (3–6 bar). TM wood dimensional changes, mass loss (ML), equilibrium moisture content (EMC), and anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) were determined to characterize the TM process intensity and evaluate the hydrophilicity. Birch wood exhibited a higher ML (5.9%–12%) than pine wood (2.6%–9%) after TM. TM caused a shrinkage in the tangential, radial, and total volume of both wood species. The TM birch wood ASE values varied from 22% to 69%, while the pine wood ASE was 27% to 58%. The cell wall total water capacity (CWTWC) of TM wood was greatly reduced. The EMC and volumetric swelling (VS) of TM birch and pine wood were 29% to 67% lower, respectively, at all relative humidities (65, 75, and 95%). Full article
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