Wood is a composite of biopolymers; cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. These biopolymers can be separated onto molecular levels by novel separation processes. The focus of Theme 2 is on a selective modification of wood biopolymeric components, isolated by Theme 1, to create binders, barriers, coatings and supramolecular materials that are as efficient or superior to synthetic materials already on the market today. Theme 2 is also working with improving wood properties by innovative methods of treatment and surface coatings.
The new methods for fractionation of biomass offer access to high molecular weight hemicelluloses, which will be converted into materials for a variety of new material applications. The important activity will be to prepare thermoplastic materials based on wood hemicelluloses and hemicelluloses-lignin blends. One of the projects aims to produce thermoplastic biopolymers by acylation of wood hemicelluloses with applications such as as binders, matrix for wood based composites, extrusion coatings or melt spinning of precursors of carbon fibers. Wood hemicelluloses can be acylated using chemical methods but enzymes are much more attractive from environmental point of view. The long term goal is to develop enzymatic acylation of wood hemicelluloses and to be able to incorporate the modification step in the wood separation process. There are also projects aiming to develop new barrier materials for future packaging based on hemicelluloses, lignin and regenerated cellulose (“all wood” multilayer packaging).
During separation of wood into polymeric components there will be mixed polysaccharide fractions which contain both cellulose and hemicelluloses. We will investigate derivatization processes followed by partial regeneration and processing steps including phase separation and electrospinning for preparation of supramolecular materials based on nanocellulose and other wood polymers. The focus of this activity is to prepare and characterize polysaccharide based materials with different length scales. These materials will be ideally for controlled liquid transport and may find applications as new all-wood based hygienic products. In addition to creative chemistry we will develop new enzymatic tools for tailor-making polysaccharides for further conversion into functional materials. Such multiphase materials can be used to induce calcium carbonate crystal growth with controlled size and crystal location. Biomimetic structures exhibiting unique fracture toughness similar to nacre are examples of materials which will be prepared in this project. Potential applications are surface coatings for packaging materials.
There are also projects in Theme 2 which aim to improve wood surface properties. The interaction between the wood surface and a coating layer is crucial for the moisture dynamics. We will develop and study the entire system of a surface coated wood based material from substrate characteristics / design to interfacial interactions between the substrate and a coating system to obtain improved material performance and functions of the material. A key objective of the project is to study well-defined wood materials with respect to moisture dynamics and how that affect the dimensional changes with subsequent stresses both internally in the wood and at the interface towards a coating layer. Furthermore, wood modification schemes such as steam treatment and chemical wood cell wall modification are part of the activities.
New biopolymer concepts and surfaces
Wood is a composite of biopolymers; cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. These biopolymers can be separated onto molecular levels by novel separation processes. The focus of Theme 2 is on a selective modification of wood biopolymeric components, isolated by Theme 1, to create binders, barriers, coatings and supramolecular materials that are as efficient or superior to synthetic materials already on the market today. Theme 2 is also working with improving wood properties by innovative methods of treatment and surface coatings.
The new methods for fractionation of biomass offer access to high molecular weight hemicelluloses, which will be converted into materials for a variety of new material applications. The important activity will be to prepare thermoplastic materials based on wood hemicelluloses and hemicelluloses-lignin blends. One of the projects aims to produce thermoplastic biopolymers by acylation of wood hemicelluloses with applications such as as binders, matrix for wood based composites, extrusion coatings or melt spinning of precursors of carbon fibers. Wood hemicelluloses can be acylated using chemical methods but enzymes are much more attractive from environmental point of view. The long term goal is to develop enzymatic acylation of wood hemicelluloses and to be able to incorporate the modification step in the wood separation process. There are also projects aiming to develop new barrier materials for future packaging based on hemicelluloses, lignin and regenerated cellulose (“all wood” multilayer packaging).
During separation of wood into polymeric components there will be mixed polysaccharide fractions which contain both cellulose and hemicelluloses. We will investigate derivatization processes followed by partial regeneration and processing steps including phase separation and electrospinning for preparation of supramolecular materials based on nanocellulose and other wood polymers. The focus of this activity is to prepare and characterize polysaccharide based materials with different length scales. These materials will be ideally for controlled liquid transport and may find applications as new all-wood based hygienic products. In addition to creative chemistry we will develop new enzymatic tools for tailor-making polysaccharides for further conversion into functional materials. Such multiphase materials can be used to induce calcium carbonate crystal growth with controlled size and crystal location. Biomimetic structures exhibiting unique fracture toughness similar to nacre are examples of materials which will be prepared in this project. Potential applications are surface coatings for packaging materials.
There are also projects in Theme 2 which aim to improve wood surface properties. The interaction between the wood surface and a coating layer is crucial for the moisture dynamics. We will develop and study the entire system of a surface coated wood based material from substrate characteristics / design to interfacial interactions between the substrate and a coating system to obtain improved material performance and functions of the material. A key objective of the project is to study well-defined wood materials with respect to moisture dynamics and how that affect the dimensional changes with subsequent stresses both internally in the wood and at the interface towards a coating layer. Furthermore, wood modification schemes such as steam treatment and chemical wood cell wall modification are part of the activities.