III. Processing and structural materials
Process - structure - property relations in wood based materials from nano scale to macro scale.
Research program
The relation between processing method, resulting structure, and final material properties can be said to constitute the central dogma of materials research.
Program III represents a wide perspective to understand these relations in the field of wood based materials, with a number of projects exploring their various aspects: Processing in the form of pulping, drying, composite material manufacturing, or heterogeneous catalysis; material structures in the form of fibers in suspension or in polymer matrices, chiral nematic ordered nanoparticles, or materials based on preserving the native wood structure; and a wide array of properties, such as mechanical, optical, and electrical. To achieve this advanced characterization methods are being used and developed, for example in the areas of rheology, scattering, spectroscopy, molecular modeling, and mechanical testing.
Scientific impact
Fundamental knowledge on interactions between wood molecular components, water, solvents, salts, and other organic and inorganic compounds, how they contribute to the organization of wood structural components (e.g. cellulose nano fibrils and fibers), and methods for tailoring of properties and introduction of new functionalities. Understanding these specific process-structure-property relations is critical for developing new materials from trees.
UN Sustainability Development Goals
Program manager
Jakob Wohlert
PhD
Email Jakob Wohlert