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Wood Science and Technology Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2022 2022.

EVALUATION OF CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER PANELS PRODUCED WITH YELLOW-POPLAR (Liriodendron tulipifera) , Rafael da Rosa Azambuja

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Valorization of Xylan in Agroforestry Waste Streams , Harrison Appiah

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Nanocellulose from the Appalachian Hardwood Forest and Its Potential Applications , Masoumeh Hassanzadeh

Characteristics of Activated Carbons Produced from Herbaceous Biomass Feedstock , Oluwatosin Jerry Oginni

Production and Economic Analyses of Woody Biomass Utilization for Energy , John Edward Vance

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Physical Properties and Drying Behavior of Hydrothermally Treated Yellow-Poplar , Sohrab Rahimi

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Pretreating Underutilized Woody Biomass for Value-Added Biofuels and Bioproducts , Amy K. Falcon

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Perceptions of Wood Product Supply and Demand for Affordable Building and Green Construction Markets , Gregory D. Estep

Effect of Wood Characteristics on Adhesive Bond Quality of Yellow-Poplar for Use in Cross-Laminated Timbers , Daniel Hovanec

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Supports of and Barriers to Pursuing a Natural Resource Degree and Career: Perspectives of Culturally Diverse Young Adults , Kelly Balcarczyk

Flexure modulus of elasticity in living branch wood , Aaron Dwight Carpenter

Woodland Owners Motivations for Involvement in Landscape Scale Forest Stewardship , Ana Maria Erazo

Compaction behavior, mechanical properties, and moisture resistance of torrefied and non-torrefied biomass pellets , Tianmiao Wang

Geographic distribution of tree species diversity of the United States reveals positive association between biodiversity and site productivity , James V. Watson

The Hydroclimatology of West Virginia Spatial and Temporal Trends and their Relationship with the North Atlantic Oscillation , Carson Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

The West Virginia Friends of Firewood Network: Engaging with and exploring the practices of firewood producers , Elizabeth Basham

Using bio-chars as potential catalysts for upgrading wood pyrolysis vapors , Wenjia Jin

Performance of northern red oak (Quercus rubra) underplantings under five management regimes and across existing environmental gradients , Adam E. Regula

Examining OHV user displacement at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area: A ten year trend study , Candice J. Riley

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Efficacy of varying rates of herbicide and surfactant for the control of understory oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) plants in an Appalachian hardwood forest , Terry L. Burhans Jr.

Manufacture and Properties of Thermoplastic Starch Biocomposites , Charlie A. Collins II

Landowner Outreach Education Project Evaluation: Connecting New Family Forest Owners with the Professional Forestry Community , Megan E. McCuen

Market perceptions for expanded opportunities of central Appalachian hardwoods , Liberty Olea Moya

Stream Restoration: Project Evaluation and Site Selection in the Cacapon River Watershed, West Virginia , Jonathan L. Pitchford

Biometric variation among two Mangrove Warbler Setophaga petechia populations of Northwestern Mexico , Cheryl L. Schweizer

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Evaluation of basal area projection models for unthinned and thinned central Appalachian hardwood forest stands , Ivan Zhelev Anastasov

Edaphic and Land Use Influences on Central Appalachian Fens , Sarah Deacon

Harvest utilization rates and strategies for enhanced value recovery during primary processing in the central appalachian region , Shawn T. Grushecky

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods for Prediction of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis Percent Dry Weight , Andrew William Hafs

Properties of polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposites reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals of red oak residues , Peter Michael Jacobson

The Silvicultural and Economic Impact of Professional Forestry Assistance on Timber Harvests on Non-Industrial, Private Forestland in West Virginia , Stuart A. Moss

An Evaluation of West Virginia's Non-Industrial Private Forest Landowner Participation in Conservation Easements , Matt D. Oliver

Restoration of Forested Ecosystems on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia , Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Pretreatments and energy potentials of Appalachian hardwood residues for biofuel production , Adebola Bamikole Adebayo

Identifying infestation probabilities of Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis, Fairmaire) in the Mid-Atlantic region , William D. Ayersman

Using Environmental and Site-specific Variables to Model Current and Future Distribution of Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) Forest Habitat in West Virginia , Nathan R. Beane

Long-term effects of timber management on forest breeding songbirds in the central Appalachians , Douglas Becker

Ecology of Trifolium stoloniferum (Muhl. ex A. Eaton), a federally endangered vascular plant, at the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia , John Q. Burkhart

Predicting species composition in an eastern hardwood forest with the use of digitally derived terrain variables , Richard D. Flanigan

Roosting ecology of bats in a disturbed landscape , Joshua B. Johnson

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Development of a Web-based woody biomass energy expert system , Sabina Dhungana

Improving lumber recovery of low-quality hardwoods via finger-jointing technologies , Colin Dougherty

Treefall gap characteristics within an Appalachian hardwood forest in West Virginia: Influences of topographic position and forest type , Jamie Marie Himes

Evaluation of industrial promoted agroforestry in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India , Brian D. McDonald

Recycling veneer-mill residues into engineered products with improved torsional rigidity , Brad McGraw

Rapid characterization of biomass: The use of near infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy as process analytical technology (PAT) method , Kofi Nkansah

Implementation of forest stewardship plans: Understanding the extent of forestry practices applied on enrolled properties in West Virginia , Elizabeth K. Tichner

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Assessing the limitations of oak in OSB , Brian D. Cox

Evaluation of the impacts of highway construction on sediment and benthic macroinvertebrates in Appalachian streams , Lara B. Hedrick

Attitudes and knowledge of forestry by high school agricultural education teachers in West Virginia , Kristin R. Lockerman Friend

Effects of atmospheric acid deposition and single versus mixed leaf litters on foliar litter decomposition, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium dynamics in a regenerating forest , Prinith Sumudu Munasinghe

Disturbances, prescribed fire, and invasion by exotic plants in a xeric mixed-oak and oak-pine dominated area of the Ridge and Valley in eastern West Virginia , Jonathan A. Pomp

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

Stand dynamics of an old-growth hemlock-hardwood forest in West Virginia , Nathan R. Beane

Modeling sediment movement in forested watersheds using hill-slope attributes , Gregory W. Hamons

Changes to in-stream turbidity following construction of a forest road in a forested watershed in West Virginia , William Frank Sharp

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

Optimal bucking hardwood species in Central Appalachia , Jingang Liu

Establishing a historic benchmark for rimrock pine communities at New River Gorge National River, West Virginia , Richard Stockton Maxwell

Nesting ecology, chick survival, and juvenile dispersal of Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in the Appalachian Mountains , Brian W. Smith

An assessment of impacts of Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) on submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland , Ketan Shrikant Tatu

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

A form of two-phase sampling utilizing regression analysis , Michael Allen Fiery Jr.

Assessment of application, effectiveness, and compliance of forestry best management practices in West Virginia , William A. Goff

Floristic dynamics of Appalachian pine-oak forests over a prescribed fire chronosequence , Michael A. Marsh

Consulting foresters of West Virginia: A profile, services and fees , Dheeraj Nelli

Analysis of red spruce (Picea rubens) regeneration in Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties, West Virginia , Adam W. Rollins

Theses/Dissertations from 2004 2004

Interactions of allelopathy and competition affecting Ziziphus spina-christi and Prosopis juliflora seedlings , Thobayet S. Alshahrani

Factors influencing basal area growth of yellow-poplar ( Liriodendron tulipifera L.) in central West Virginia , Christopher T. Crum

Compatible taper and volume equations for yellow-poplar in West Virginia , Lichun Jiang

Modeling the oriented strandboard manufacturing process and the oriented strandboard continuous rotary drying system , John R. Noffsinger

Comparison of forest road characteristics between forest stewardship properties and non-forest stewardship properties in central West Virginia , Matthew A. Provencher

Theses/Dissertations from 2003 2003

Population level dynamics of grasshopper sparrow populations breeding on reclaimed mountaintop mines in West Virginia , Frank K. Ammer

In situ determination of strength and stiffness of structural lumber and composite products , Jody D. Gray

Global demand for certified hardwood products as determined from a survey of hardwood exporters , Ellen E. Hrabovsky

Soil compaction caused by timber harvesting in central Appalachian hardwood forests , Mark W. Jones

Production and cost analysis of two harvesting systems in central Appalachia , Charles Robert Long

Ecology and management of raccoons within an intensively managed forest in the central Appalachians , Sheldon F. Owen

Fungi associated with northern red oak (Quercus rubra ) acorns , Dawn M. Washington

Impacts on terrestrial and streamside herpetofauna by mountaintop removal mining in southern West Virginia , Jennifer Mravintz Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2002 2002

Microbial ecology of freshly sawn yellow-poplar lumber ( Liriodendron tulipifera L.) in two seasons , Mark Ryan Mikluscak

Harvested log damage and value loss associated with two ground-based harvesting systems in central Appalachia , Michael R. Vanderberg

Relations of nesting behavior, nest predators, and nesting success of wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) to habitat characteristics at multiple scales , Gary E. Williams Jr.

Theses/Dissertations from 2001 2001

Simulation based modeling of the elastic properties of structural wood based composite lumber , Laszlo Bejo

Changes in stand structure and species diversity following clearcutting in central Appalachian hardwoods , Mark Benjamin Brashears

Fastener withdrawal resistance of wood-based composite panel products , Steven M. Cook

Spatial and temporal analysis of radial growth in an Appalachian watershed , Desta Beyene Fekedulegn

Effects of sediment upon benthic macroinvertebrates in forested northern Appalachian streams , Michael Douglas Kaller

Stand dynamics and disturbance history of five oak -dominated old -growth stands in the unglaciated Appalachian Plateau , James Spencer Rentch

Study of West Virginia wood industry roundwood consumption in 1999 , O'Dell Emanuel Tucker

Theses/Dissertations from 2000 2000

Assessing West Virginia NIPF owner characteristics and preferred assistance topics , Daniel Joseph Magill

Evaluation of the use of remotely sensed images to speciate mixed Appalachian forests , Doru Ioan Pacurari

Predicting habitat suitability for American woodcock and landscape-level assessment of habitat in West Virginia , Ann Klein Steketee

Theses/Dissertations from 1999 1999

Characterizing the chemistry of yellow-poplar surfaces exposed to different surface energy environments using DCA, DSC, and XPS , Michael William Carpenter

Forest songbird abundance and viability at multiple scales on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia , Thomas Eugene DeMeo

Preservative treatment evaluation of five Appalachian wood species with four preservatives , Jeffrey John Slahor

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Wood Science and Technology

Journal of the International Academy of Wood Science

• Subjects include wood biology and quality, wood physics and physical technologies, wood chemistry and chemical technologies.
• Reports on latest advances in areas such as wood formation, chemical composition, property relations, and microbiological degradation.
• Topics related to wood technology include machining, gluing, finishing, composite technology, wood modification, and pulp and biorefinery products conversion.
• Klaus Richter,
• Jan-Willem van de Kuilen

Latest issue

Volume 58, Issue 3

Latest articles

Scale modeling of thermo-structural fire tests of multi-orientation wood laminates.

• Michael J. Gangi
• Brian Y. Lattimer
• Scott W. Case

Chemical surface densification of sugar maple through Michael addition reaction

• Vahideh Akbari
• Stéphanie Vanslambrouck
• Véronic Landry

Laccase-catalyzed octadecylamine modification enables green and stable hydrophobization of bamboo

Extraction and investigation of the lipophilic fraction from Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) and Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) forestry side-stream biomass

• Alise Zommere
• Linards Klavins
• Maris Klavins

Influence of natural aging on wood combustion heat release

• Jingyu Zhao
• Xinrong Jiang
• Chi-Min Shu

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Woodworking technology and the utilisation of wood resources at Star Carr

--> Bamforth, Michael (2017) Woodworking technology and the utilisation of wood resources at Star Carr. MA by research thesis, University of York.

This study examines the evidence for woodworking technology and the utilisation of wood resources using the waterlogged wood assemblage from the site of Star Carr. 4516 pieces of wood were recovered from Star Carr during excavations between 2013 and 2015; 1602 of these items had been split, trimmed or hewn. The recent campaign used a fine-grained approach to the wood analysis, individually recording each item. The efficacy of this approach has allowed a re-interpretation of the ‘brushwood habitation platform’ first identified by Clark, has furthered our understanding of the lake-edge platform first encountered in 1985, and has identified two further similar platforms. A previously unknown extensive scatter of detrital wood is interpreted as a possible trackway giving access to the lake. An interdisciplinary approach has allowed a possible Mesolithic woodworking toolkit to be identified with flint, antler, bone and wood all playing important roles in Mesolithic carpentry. Analysis of the wood has identified a single, distinct, woodworking tradition spanning the 800 years of human activity at Star Carr, describing a mature tradition of carpentry with evidence for widespread use amongst the general population as well as possible specialisation in the production of specific artefacts. A slight but distinct signal for woodland management in the form of coppicing of roundwood stems is discussed, and a practice of harvesting tangential outer splits from living trees has potentially been identified. Although the relationship between Mesolithic people and the wooded environment they lived in remains opaque, the cultural richness and layers of meaning imbued in the woodland are clear, as is the detailed knowledge the inhabitants had of available woodland resources. Furthermore, the nature of the wooden structures – illuminated through this latest phase of analysis – supports the assertion that group sizes may have been larger, and perhaps more settled in the landscape, than has previously been thought.

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Graduate Degree Programs M.S., M.P.S. or Ph.D. in Wood Science

Ph.D. and M.S.

Applicants for the M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in the wood science option are required to have a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. Applicants must have the appropriate undergraduate degree for the option they pursue. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of coursework in chemistry, biology, physics and calculus.

The M.P.S. in Wood Science is open to students with a demonstrated interest in wood science or the wood products industry. A bachelor’s degree in science or engineering is strongly recommended. Applicants to the M.P.S. in wood science and technology should have completed at least one semester of coursework in chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus.

Coursework requirements are described in the   Academic Catalog .

Wood Science Topic Areas

Engineered wood products and structures (timber structure design).

• Dr. George Kyanka
• Dr. Rafaat Morsi-Hussein

Students with interest in Engineered Wood Products and Structures should have a strong background in integral calculus, statics, mechanics, and mechanical and physical properties of wood. The behavior of wood and wood-based components under loads and the effects of duration of the loads are critical elements when developing engineering codes. Wooden components as small as dowels or as large as bridge beams are considered, using elements of materials science, engineering mechanics and structural engineering. Basic property knowledge, employing theories of elasticity, visco-elasticity and fracture mechanics, is coupled with computer-aided design data to analyze the performance of wood and to solve application problems, such as those encountered in wood-frame construction and timber utility structures. How such factors as chemical fire retardant treatments, adhesive performance and mechanical fastener design interact with use requirements is considered. National and international design codes and their development play an important role in specifying research areas of current interest and need. Fabrication and testing of actual components such as trusses, composite beams, and furniture connections are completed in the department’s Wood Engineering Laboratory.

Topics of study may include: Materials science, Engineering mechanics and elasticity, Engineering properties of wood composites, Computer-aided design, Static and dynamic properties of wood.

Tropical Timbers

• Dr. Susan E. Anagnost
• Dr. Robert Meyer

Studies of tropical timbers take many forms, depending on individual student interests. Often students from other countries bring specific problems and materials with them so their thesis will find immediate application when they return home. The holdings of the C. deZeeuw Memorial Library and reference wood specimens of the H.P. Brown Memorial Wood Collection of the Tropical Timber Information Center (TTIC), housed in Baker Laboratory facilities, are vital to this work.

Research topics may be formulated to answer questions dealing with anatomy, identification, properties or uses of various woods from around the world, using the TTIC reference materials. These studies may be quite narrow, such as anatomy and physical properties of woods from a particular region, or much broader, such as regional distribution of species and species groups based on life zone research throughout a country or larger geographic area.

Topics of study include: Wood Identification keys and systematics, Wood properties and end use suitability, Life zone analyses, Expert systems.

Wood Anatomy and Ultrastructure

Students with interest in Wood Anatomy and Ultrastructure should have an undergraduate degree in wood anatomy or the biological sciences. Students are required to develop an extensive background in all aspects of microscopy: light, scanning electron, transmission electron, video microscopy and image analysis, including micro-techniques for effective preparation of specimens for the appropriate instrument. Wood anatomy studies are basic to wood identification, wood utilization, and physical/mechanical properties. These studies may include woods from other continents.

The field of ultrastructure is very broad with applications in many biological, chemical and materials sciences. Applied to wood, it emphasizes the sub-light microscopic structures (smaller than 0.2 micrometers) found in this natural material, either in the mature form or in its formative stages where various organelles of the living cell may be studied for their roles in producing the mature wood cell.

The behavior of wood in its many applications can be observed and explained via microscopy and related instrumentation such as EDXA (energy-dispersive x-ray analysis). State-of-the-art resources and facilities are concentrated in the Center for Ultrastructure Studies, which provides instruction and research support staff.

Students entering this program should have an undergraduate degree in wood anatomy or the biological sciences.

Topics of study include: Wood formation and cell wall organization, Cytoskeleton of plant cells, Properties related to anatomy and ultrastructure, Electron and light microscopy.

Wood Science and Technology

• Dr. William B. Smith

Because wood is renewable, it will meet the needs of modern society for a perpetually available, carbon-neutral material perfectly suited for a vast array of products. The study area Wood Science and Technology includes detailed research on physical, mechanical, or anatomical aspects of wood and its utilization and leads to the M.S., M.P.S., or Ph.D. degree. Wood science stresses research on the material science of wood, dealing with properties important to its use, or to solve problems in wood utilization by practical applications of such knowledge.

Students entering this program should have an undergraduate degree in wood science or a related area.

Topics of study include: Processing and machining, Mechanical and physical properties, The effects of wood anatomy on the physical and mechanical properties of wood, Wood biodegradation, Wood composites, Wood drying and physics, Adhesives and finishing, Dendrochronology.

Wood Treatments

Graduate study in the area of wood treatments allows the student to investigate the scientificbasis for the improvement of wood and wood products with various treatments, which include drying, preservative treatments and coatings. Preparation for research includes graduate coursework in wood-water relationships and transport processes and additional study in areas such as wood anatomy and ultrastructure, mechanical properties, wood chemistry, wood microbiology, thermodynamics, and engineering economics.

Current research interests include use of innovative techniques to dry and preserve wood, effects of drying method on the subsequent treatability of wood, evaluation of energy usage in lumber drying technologies, improving wood properties with polymer treatments, and moisture migration studies.

Students entering this program should have an undergraduate degree in wood science or a closely related field.

Topics of study include: Wood-water relationships and wood drying, Preservative treatments, Polymer treatments, sealants and coatings.

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A brief overview on the development of wood research

Wood science covers in particular the areas of the formation and composition as well as the chemical, biological and physical-mechanical properties of wood. First comprehensive studies have already been published in the last century. Detailed knowledge of wood is required for the processing of wood, the production of wood-based materials, and the utilization of wood and wood-based materials as buildings and various other products such as furniture. This review gives a brief overview on the progress in wood chemistry, wood biology (including photosynthesis and biodeterioration), and physical-mechanical properties of wood and wood-based materials. These fundamentals are also essential for understanding technological processes and product development.

1 A short introduction to wood science

Wood is one of the most remarkable natural products and has been used by humans for thousands of years. With the development of powerful civilizations in ancient times, wood played an important role in their daily life and the demand for wood for buildings, as fuel, for the construction of ships, etc. was constantly increasing. Over time, this led to severe regional and transregional deforestation, as in Mesopotamia in the Middle East or in the Mediterranean region during the ancient Greek and Roman eras ( Dotterweich 2013 ; Hughes 2011 ; Kaplan et al. 2009 ), followed by soil erosion, karstification or even desertification. Later, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, an increasing demand for construction, the mining industry, as firewood in Central Europe as well as an increasing conversion of forest land into farm land led to a dramatic decline in forested areas. As a consequence, these devastating environmental changes were accompanied by massive timber shortages. Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714) developed the visionary concept of sustainability with the reforestation of cleared forest sites to ensure production of sufficient quantities of timber for the future. At the transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, the importance of forest management knowledge and establishment of sustainability strategies led to the foundation of the first academic forestry institutions in several European countries such as in Russia, France, Germany, Sweden and former Austria-Hungary. At this time, basic knowledge in wood science was increasingly included in forestry education programmes. Kisser et al. (1967) provided details on the historical development of wood anatomy with numerous pioneering contributions already from the nineteenth century, followed by excellent microscopic descriptions in the first half of the twentieth century. Until the early twentieth century, however, there was no targeted wood research with corresponding research institutes. Research was still more or less focused on forestry and forest utilization. According to Köstler et al. (1960) , modern wood research began in 1910 with the foundation of the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison/Wisconsin in the United States (see book on 100 years FPL Madison), see also Anderson (2010) . Earlier, in 1906, a Forest Products Research Institute was founded in Dehradun, India. In Germany, the first real wood research institute was founded in 1932 at the Technical University of Darmstadt and in 1934 as the Prussian Wood Research Institute in Eberswalde (later the “Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung”) under the direction of Franz Kollmann (1906–1987). At this time, numerous wood research institutes were established in almost all industrialized countries ( Table 1 ). Nowadays, wood science is subdivided in great detail, either into techniques such as molecular biology and its related biotechnological approaches, or into other specific areas adopted from botany, e.g., taxonomy, cell biology, physiology and pathology. Wood science education programs are in most cases part of Bachelor and Master programmes at several universities worldwide with degrees directly in wood science or wood materials science, in sub-disciplines such as wood technology or in combination with other programmes such as forestry with a degree in forestry and wood science. In addition to these educational wood institutes, numerous wood research institutions were established, which are nowadays mostly integrated into larger units for research in the field of natural resources and they are associated with units for, e.g., forestry, agriculture, geology, or even fisheries. These often national institutes provide science-based support for policy and decision-makers, are involved in monitoring activities and represent their countries in international scientific commissions.

Overview of wood research institutes in different countries (Niemz. 1993, Niemz and Sonderegger 2021 ).

2 Wood chemistry

Wood chemistry is primarily concerned with the chemical compounds that make up wood, particularly the xylem. These compounds are structural polymers (“lignocellulose”) of the cell wall (cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin) and various low molecular weight compounds (mostly organic), the extractives. The most important extractives (phenolics, terpenoids) are secondary plant compounds that can strongly influence the properties of wood. Primary plant compounds, which mostly occur in lumens of living wood cells (parenchyma cells), may also determine the wood properties, but are less considered in wood chemistry.

The French chemist Anselme Payen (1795–1871) coined the term cellulose in 1838 ( Payen 1938 ) ( Figure 1 ). In the years 1837–1842, he discovered that all plants contain a white substance with the same composition as starch (about 44% carbon, 6% hydrogen, and 49% oxygen) and distinguished between “la cellulose” und “l’incrustation ligneuse”. He also found cellulose in cotton and decompounded it into glucose via sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Emil Fischer (1852–1919, Nobel Prize in 1902) at the University of Berlin (nowadays Humboldt University, Germany) performed pioneering work in the area of sugar chemistry. In 1891, he elucidated the structure of d -glucose, d -mannose and d -arabinose and the stereochemistry of sugars. Fischer developed the nomenclature of linear monosaccharides (“Fischer nomenclature”) and the three-dimensional presentation method (“Fischer projection”). Walter Norman Haworth (1883–1950, Nobel Prize in 1937) at the University of Birmingham (UK) elucidated the ring (glucopyranose) structure of the sugar units in the polysaccharides and developed the three-dimensional presentation method of five- and six-membered monosaccharide rings (“Haworth-projection”). Karl Freudenberg at the University of Heidelberg (1886–1983) and Haworth provided strong evidence for the β-1,4-glycosidic linkages in cellulose. Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965, Nobel Prize in 1953), the father of polymer chemistry at the University of Freiburg (Germany), established the polymeric structure and the final chain conformation of cellulose. He and his co-worker H. Eilers found that the structural difference between cellulose and starch relies on the conformation of the anomeric glucose unit, which leads to α-glycosidic (starch) and β-glycosidic bonds (cellulose) ( Staudinger and Eilers 1936 ). The elucidation of the crystalline structure of cellulose began with the development of X-ray crystallography by Max von Laue in Germany (Nobel Prize in 1914). In 1913, Shōji Nishikawa (1884–1952) and his fellow student S. Ono in Japan were the first who showed that cellulose exhibits definite diffraction rings formed by rod-like shaped crystallites and Nishikawa later postulated the discontinuous nature of cellulose ( Nishikawa and Ono 1913 ). Reginald Herzog and his collaborator Willi Jancke at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fibre Chemistry in Berlin (Germany) used the Debye–Scherrer-procedure to confirm the crystalline structure of cellulose in widely different sources such as cotton, ramie, wood, jute, and flax, which has become commonly known as the “native” cellulose form ( Hon 1994 ). In the 1920th, Michael Polanyi at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fibre Chemistry in Berlin, Olenus Lee Sponsler at the University of California in Los Angeles (USA) and Haworth (1928) have published early intensive studies on the composition of cellulose and on its elementary unit cell. In 1928/29, Meyer and Mark were the first to postulate a monoclinic unit cell for native cellulose. Albert Frey-Wyssling at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) has developed a frequently cited model for the ultra-structure of cellulose and studied the orientation of microfibrils in the different cell wall layers of wood. He described distinct crystalline and amorphous sections in native cellulose. In contrast, Reginald D. Preston at the University of Leeds (UK) postulated that native cellulose is a continuous crystalline polymer with occasional dislocations (lattice distortions), meaning that the amorphous parts do not form discrete domains. In 1937, Kurt H. Meyer and Lore Misch at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) determined the dimensions of the unit cell of ramie cellulose by X-ray diffractometry ( Meyer and Misch 1937 ). In their model, the glucan chains are located at the four edges of the unit cell and run in one direction (parallel), while the central chain runs in the opposite direction (anti-parallel) ( Gardner and Blackwall 1974 ). In 1974, however, the groups of Anatole Sarko at SUNY ESF (College of Environmental Science and Forestry), Syracuse (USA) and John Blackwell at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (USA) showed independently that all the chains in the unit cell of native cellulose run parallel. For regenerated celluloses (cellulose II), however, both groups reported an anti-parallel orientation of the centre chain, which is now both widely accepted.

Selected scientists from the field of wood chemistry. Copyright: Freudenberg: Archive of Freudenberg & Co. KG Weinheim/Germany; Higuchi : courtesy of Satoru Tsuchikawa, Kyoto University/Japan; Brunow : courtesy of Stefan Brunow, Sweden; all others: Wikimedia Commons.

In 1984, Rajai H. Atalla at the Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton (USA) and David L. Vanderhart of the National Bureau of Standards, Washington (USA) first reported the existence of two distinct crystalline forms of native cellulose based on 13 C-NMR data – cellulose I α (dominant in bacteria and algae) and cellulose I β (dominant in higher plants such as wood). In 1992, Shiro Kobayashi and Shin-ichiro Shoda from the Tohoku University in Sendai (Japan) reported the first synthesis of cellulose via a non-biosynthetic path by using β- d -cellobiosyl fluoride as substrate for cellulose in an organic solvent mixture ( Kobashi et al. 1992 ).

The industrial exploitation of cellulose fibres from wood (mostly together with the hemicelluloses) relies on chemical pulping according to the sulphite process and the sulphate process. The sulphite process using calcium bisulphite was first patented by Benjamin Chew Tilghman (USA) in 1867. Based on studies of Carl Daniel Ekman, the first industrial magnesium sulphite pulp mill started operation at Bergvik, Sweden. The first calcium sulphite pulp mill in Germany started production in Hannoversch Münden in 1879 based on the developments of Alexander Mitscherlich. Sulphate cooking was invented by Carl F. Dahl in 1879 in Danzig, Prussia (then Germany), who called it “kraft” process from the Germany word Kraft (strength). In 1890, the process was first applied in a pulp mill in Sweden.

In addition to the utilization of cellulose for paper production, regenerated cellulose and cellulose derivatives have been produced from dissolving pulp after about 1850. This class of products provided basic materials for the textile and chemical industry. In 1857, Matthias E. Schweizer (1818–1860) at the University of Zürich (Switzerland) discovered that cellulose dissolves in aqueous tetraamine-copper-(II)-hydroxid (cuprammonium solution, also called Schweizer’s reagent). Max Fremery and Johann Urban filed a patent in 1897 on the procedure to gain filaments from this solution by reprecipitation of the cellulose, but initially only used the filaments in light bulbs. In 1899, the industrial production of cuprammonium rayon (“Cupro”) for textiles started in the Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG in Wuppertal-Elberfeld (Germany). In 1901, Edmund Thiele developed a spinning process at the J. P. Bemberg AG in Wuppertal-Oberbarmen (Germany) to produce “artificial silk” based on the cuprammonium process. Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle patented the viscose process (“viscose” due to the highly viscous mixture) to produce “artificial silk” in 1894. The process is based on solubilisation of cellulose as cellulose xanthate and subsequent reprecipitation. The company Courtaulds Fibres (UK) produced the first commercial viscose rayon in 1905. The development of the Lyocell process, which relies on dissolving bleached wood pulp, started in 1972 at the American Enka Company, Enka (USA).

The first cellulose derivative was nitrocellulose (cellulose nitrate) produced with nitric acid. Its unstable precursor “xyloïdine” was first synthesized in 1832 by the French chemist Henri Braconnot. In 1845, Christian Schönbein in Germany was able to produce the first stable nitrocellulose using a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. Georges Audemars in France produced the first cellulose textile fibre by using solutions of nitrocellulose in alcohol-ether mixtures in 1855 and called it “rayon”. In 1889, the French chemist Hilaire de Chardonnet patented a nitrocellulose fibre marketed as “artificial silk”. Commercial production of Chardonnet’s silk started in 1891. In 1869, John W. Hyatt (USA) developed celluloid, a nitrocellulose softened with camphor and obtained the patent to produce billiard balls from celluloid. The French chemist Paul Schützenberger produced the first cellulose acetate by reaction of cotton with acetic anhydride in 1865. The process was further developed by the Dutch chemist Antoine Paul Nicolas Franchimont, who used sulfuric acid or zinc chloride as a catalyst in 1879. Other approaches of cellulose derivatisation involved graft-copolymerization of the cellulose backbone with synthetic polymers such as polystyrene or polyacrylonitrile. Vivian T. Stannett of North Carolina State University (USA) published early works in this area. The liquid crystalline behaviour of cellulose derivatives was studied by Derek G. Gray at McGill University, Montreal (Canada) and Peter Zugenmaier at Clausthal University of Technology (Germany) starting around 1982.

Research studies related to microcrystalline cellulose and nanocellulose started in the 1950s, when O. A Battista at the Textile Research Institute, Princeton (USA) obtained microcrystalline cellulose by controlled hydrolysis of cellulose fibres and subsequent sonification treatment ( Batista 1950 ). This led to the first commercialisation of microcrystalline cellulose.

At about the same time, B. Rånby from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm (Sweden) for the first time reported the generation of colloidal suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (one type of nanocellulose) after hydrolysis of cellulose. The production of microfibrillated cellulose (another type of nanocellulose) was first described in patents by F. W. Herrick and by A. F. Turbak and co-workers from the ITT Rayonier labs in Whippany (USA). The company commercialized the production of microfibrillated cellulose.

Today, the chemical and semi-crystalline structure of cellulose has been largely elucidated. Future basic research is therefore likely to focus primarily on the interactions of cellulose with other cell wall components and the elucidation of the three-dimensional cell wall structure. Further developments in instrumental analysis will play an important role in this. Recent and expected future developments regarding the utilisation will focus on the functionalisation of cellulose, especially nanocellulose, to produce materials that are responsive and adaptive towards changing ambient conditions for medicine and engineering (“smart materials”). Novel innovative composites based on cellulose derivatives will be produced. In addition, research will continue into the targeted decomposition of polysaccharides to produce biofuels (“biorefinery”) and various platform chemicals.

The German chemist Ernst Schulze at the University of Zürich (Switzerland) first used the term hemicelluloses in 1891 ( Schulze 1891 ) for all sugars of the plant cell wall that are released during hydrolysis by weak mineral acids, such as galactose, mannose, arabinose or xylose. Schulze falsely believed that these sugars were precursors to cellulose. Since the late 1950s, Tore E. Timell and his coworkers at the College of Forestry in Syracuse (USA) have elucidated the chemical composition and structure of hemicelluloses from softwoods ( Timell 1967 ) (arabinoglucuronoxylans and galactoglucomannans) and hardwoods (glucuronoxylans and glucomannans). Several other researchers have studied hemicelluloses with respect to their chemical behaviour during alkaline sulphate pulping (e.g., its endwise degradation). Horace S. Isbell at the National Bureau of Standards, Washington D.C. (USA), Olof Samuelson at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), Kuniyoshi Shimizu at Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan) and Eero Sjöström at Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) provided significant findings in this area. As for cellulose, recent and possible future research fields are functionalisation, finding novel medical and technical applications (e.g., food amendments, gels, paper sizing agents) and targeted decomposition of hemicelluloses (biofuels, platform chemicals).

The term lignin was first introduced by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841) at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) in 1813 ( de Candella 1813 ). It derives from the Latin word for wood lignum . In 1856, Franz Ferdinand Schulze at the University of Rostock (Germany) used the term lignin for the non-hydrolysable constituent of wood ( Schulze 1856 ). The beginnings of lignin chemistry date back to 1874, when Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Berlin (nowadays Humboldt-University of Berlin) isolated coniferin from the cambial sap of Norway spruce wood and developed a process to produce vanillin from coniferin. Around 1893, Peter Klason (1848–1937) began systematic studies on lignin chemistry at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden). He was the first to suggest that lignin is a polymer of coniferyl alcohol, which made him the “father of lignin chemistry”. Klason also developed the first method to determine the lignin content of wood (“Klason lignin”). Around 1933, Holgar Erdtman at the Stockholm University (Sweden) developed the idea that lignification proceeds via radical coupling of substances similar to coniferyl alcohol. He dehydrogenated isoeugenol with crude fungal extract (containing laccase) and identified a dimer with a phenylcumarane bond (β-5 bond). Based on Erdtman’s studies, Karl Freudenberg (1886–1983) at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) further elucidated the structure and synthesis of lignin ( Freudenberg and Neish 1968 ). He and his co-workers were able to synthesise an artificial lignin (dehydrogenated product, DHP) from coniferyl alcohol using oxidative, radical-inducing enzymes (laccase, peroxidase), which displayed similar properties as lignin isolated from Norway spruce wood. Freudenberg distinguished two types of synthesis methods that produced different types of polymers by a free radical coupling mechanism: the “Zutropfexperiment” yielded an “end-wise” polymer and the “Zulaufexperiment” yielded a “bulk polymer”. Studies on the structure and constitution of lignin were continued in Germany by Horst Nimz at the Universities of Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Hamburg. Nimz described the occurrence of the β-1 bond in lignin for the first time in 1965 ( Nimz 1965 ), which was later shown to derive from a spirodienone structure by John Ralph’s group at the University of Wisconsin (USA).

In his study, Nimz collaborated with Hans-Dietrich Lüdemann from the University of Regensburg (Germany) who conducted the identification of lignin structures by Nuclear-Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Several other researchers have further elucidated the structure and reactions of lignin by 13 C-NMR and other more advanced NMR techniques such as Charles H. Ludwig at Georgia Pacific Corporation Bellingham, Washington (USA), Josef Gierer at the Swedish Pulp and Paper Research Institute - STFI (Sweden), Larry Landucci at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (USA), Josef Gratzl and Dimitris Argyropoulos at North Carolina State University (USA), Knut Lundquist at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) and John Ralph at the University of Wisconsin (USA). Oskar Faix at the Federal Research Institute for Forestry and Forest Products (now Thünen Institute of Wood Research in Hamburg (Germany) has done pioneering work on infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Another important method to analyse the composition of lignin is thioacidolysis developed by Catherine Lapierre at INRA (France) around 1985. In 1995, Gösta Brunow (1936–2013) and his co-workers from the University of Helsinki have first described the dibenzodioxocin (octagonal) structure in lignin ( Karhunen et al. 1995 ). Several groups have studied the structure, biosynthesis and fungal biodegradation of lignin such as Kyosti S. Sarkanen at the University of Washington (USA), David A. I. Goring at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Montreal (Canada), Takayoshi Higuchi at the University of Kyoto (Japan), Karl-Erik Erickson at STFI (Sweden) as well as the University of Georgia (USA), Kent Kirk at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison (WI), Michael H. Gold at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology (USA), Bernard Monties and Bernard Kurek at INRA (France), Jean-Paul Joseleau and Katia Ruel at the University of Grenoble (France), as well as Wolfgang Fritsche and Martin Hofrichter at the University of Jena (Hofrichter later at the International Graduate School Zittau), (Germany).

With the emergence of molecular biological methods, the research base on lignin biosynthesis has expanded considerably. Extensive research has been carried out by the groups of Wout Boerjan at Ghent University (Belgium) and Marie Baucher at the University of Brussels (Belgium). For a long time, the coupling of enzymatically induced radicals during lignification has been considered a random process in which the already formed polysaccharide matrix serves as a template. From 1995 to 2000, however, Norman G. Lewis and his co-workers at Washington State University (USA) sparked controversy when they postulated the existence of dirigent proteins that may exert a specific control over the lignification process. In recent years, lignin valorisation has become an increasingly important issue, as the emergence of lignin as a by-product will predictably increase due to the bio-economic utilization of all wood constituents. Several approaches to lignin utilisation have previously been elaborated. The groups of Horst Nimz in Hamburg, Alois Hüttermann at the University of Göttingen and Gerhard Kühne at the Technical University of Dresden (all Germany) were probably the first to produce particleboards with a lignin-based adhesive - the two latter by applying laccase as catalyst. Wolfgang Glasser at the Polytechnical Institute of Virginia (USA) is a pioneer in the field of chemical modification of lignin to produce graft-copolymers to form polyurethane foams, adhesives, and coatings ( Glasser and Sarkanen 1989 ).

Recently, there has been a renaissance in lignin research driven by aim to produce biofuels from ligno-cellulose. For the future, further research efforts are expected with regard to the genetic modification of lignin as well as the investigation of lignin composition and the interaction of lignin with other cell wall components. As is already the case today, the valorisation of the technical lignin obtained as a by-product of pulp and biofuel will gain in importance in the future. Possible utilisations of technical lignin are as polymer materials, carbon fibres, activated carbon, antioxidant, antimicrobial actives, biochemical and smart materials.

The use of wood extractives and tree exudates partly dates back to Neolithic times. Examples are exudates (as varnishes, lacquers, gums), tannins, dyes, perfumes, rubber, and medicines. Special types of extractives are “naval stores”, a term that has been used since the 17th century. These materials, derived from pine resin, were originally applied as tar and pitch used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships ( Hillis 1989 ). The major constituents of softwood resins belong to the chemical class of terpenes. Inspired by early studies of the French Chemist Pierre Eugène Marcelin Berthelot, August Kekulé (1829–1896) at the Universities of Gent (Belgium) and Bonn (Germany) coined the name “terpenes” for the hydrocarbons occurring in turpentine oil (German “Terpentin”) around 1860 ( Dev 1989 ). Later on, the term was extended also to other related compounds (the isoprenoids). Since 1955, the term “terpenoid” has gradually become the preferred generic name for this chemical class. “Terpenoid” is nowadays used synonymously with “terpene”. Otto Wallach at the Universities of Bonn and Göttingen (Germany) conducted pioneer studies and elucidated the chemical structure of terpenes. He discovered that terpenes are composed of isoprene (C 5 H 8 ) units and received the Nobel Prize in 1910. Wallach’s findings were published in the book “Terpene und Campher” ( Wallach 1909 ). Another pioneer of terpene chemistry was Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917, Nobel Prize in 1905) at the University of Munich (Germany), who conducted comprehensive investigations on cyclic terpenes. Friedrich Wilhelm Semmler at the Polytechnic University of Breslau (then Germany) for the first time elucidated the chemical formula of a sesquiterpene, santalene, in 1910. Based on earlier findings of Berthelot and Wallach, Leopold Ružička (Nobel Prize in 1939) at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) formulated the “biogenetic isoprene rule” for terpenes (isoprenoids) in 1922. In the field of isoprenoids, Ružička mainly studied the chemistry of higher terpenes and steroids. Feodor Lynen at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Chemistry (nowadays Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry) in Munich as well as the University of Munich (Germany) and Konrad Bloch at Harvard University in Cambridge (USA) elucidated the biosynthesis of terpenes. In 1964, both researchers received the Nobel Prize of Physiology of Medicine in equal shares.

Tannins are a major group of polyphenols that can strongly influence certain properties of wood such as dimensional stability and durability. The term “tannin” derives from the ability of these compounds to turn animal skin into leather. Most probably, the Ancient Greeks of the archaic period (ca. 800–500 BC) first used this process with tannin preparations from oak galls. The structural elucidation of hydrolysable tannins started with the isolation of gallic acid from oak-galls by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1786. Gallic acid received its name from the French chemist Henri Braconnot (because of its origin from oak-galls), who also discovered ellagic acid and pyrogallic acid in 1831 at the University of Nancy (France). Julius Löwe at the University of Gießen (Germany) succeeded in the first synthesis of ellagic acid from gallic acid in 1868. Maximilian Nierenstein at the University of Bristol isolated ellagic acid from oak bark and other sources in 1905. Emil Fischer, Max Bergmann und Karl Freudenberg at the University of Berlin (Germany) showed that hydrolysable tannins are derivatives of glucose and digallic acid. In 1920, Freudenberg divided the tannins into the flavonoid-derived condensed tannins and into hydrolysable tannins. He also discovered the catechin structure and the synthesis of epicatechin (both structural units in condensed tannins) in 1925. Richard Willstätter at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute of Chemistry, Berlin (Germany) prepared pure anthocyanin in 1915 and Robert Robinson at the University of Oxford (UK) for the first time synthesised an anthocyanin in 1931.

After the Second World War, tannins and other polyphenols have been studied with increasing intensity in various plant-related scientific fields such as agriculture, ecology, food science and nutrition, and medicine rather than in wood science. Around 1950, Edgar Charles Bate-Smith and Tony Swain at the University of Cambridge (UK) investigated the phenolic constituents of plants using paper chromatography and suggested hexahydroxydiphenic acid to be part of the hydrolysable tannins. In 1956, Otto T. Schmidt and Walter Mayer at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) postulated that hexahydroxydiphenoyl esters are formed by oxidative coupling of galloyl ester groups. In 1951, Bate-Smith for the first time developed a coloration method to detect condensed tannins in plant materials. Early works of Bate-Smith and Swain as well as David G. Roux at the University of Orange Free State, Bloemfontein (South Africa) and of others revealed that condensed tannins are essentially polymers composed of flavanoid units. Tannins and other polyphenols have also been intensively studied by Edwin Haslam at the University of Sheffield (UK), who provided the first comprehensive definition of plant polyphenols referred to as the White–Bate-Smith–Swain–Haslam (WBSSH) definition in 1966 ( Quideau 2011 ). In wood technology, tannins found practical application as adhesives with low formaldehyde emission for wood-based panels. Antonio Pizzi at the University of Lorraine in Nancy (France) and Edmone Roffael at the University of Göttingen (Germany) have done important research in this area.

Suberin is a hydrophobic (lipophilic) substance typically found in the bark of the cork oak ( Quercus suber ), which is associated with a complex mixture of waxes. Robert Hooke first described suberin layers in 1665, when he examined suberised cork cells from the bark of Q. suber ( Kolattukudy and Espelie 1989 ). In 1877, Franz von Höhnel discovered the lamellar structure of suberin ( von Höhnel 1877 ). More than 60 years later, I. Ribas and E. Blasco found that glycerol is a part of suberin ( Ribas and Blasko 1940 ). Since the 1980s, the chemical structure of suberin with its aliphatic and phenolic (lignin-like) domain has been progressively elucidated with pioneer work being done by the group of Pappachan E. Kolattukudy at Washington State University, Pullman and at Ohio State University, Columbus, USA ( Kolattukudy 1980 ; Kolattukudy and Espelie 1989 ).

In the future, wood and lignocellulose will be used to produce platform chemicals that can replace petroleum-based basic chemicals currently used in the chemical industry. In this way, lignocelluloses could gradually replace petroleum as a source of raw materials for the chemical industry, thus placing wood chemistry at the centre of the chemical industry. This can be seen as a significant step in the economic transformation toward a bioeconomy. In addition to wood-based platform chemicals, also cell wall-based polymers and composites might play a pivotal role in future material research. Novel wood-based materials that respond and adapt to changing environmental conditions could become more important in the future data-driven society. By developing tunable materials, novel building blocks could be created that can be integrated into more complex future technologies.

3 Wood biology

Wood is defined as the tissue formed by the cambium through a periodical release of new cells to the inside thus forming growth increments. Such wood tissue is responsible for mechanical support of trees and shrubs, for the axial and radial transport of water and mineral solutes as well as for storage of reserve material. The botanical term for wood is “xylem”. Wood biology is a sub-discipline of wood science and deals with the formation and structure of xylem tissues and is based on analyses on macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular levels. Cambium and its activities as the meristematic tissue responsible for xylem formation generally are included in wood biological research. Wood biology also comprehends the physiological processes of wood-forming plants during their entire life, their interactions with the environment as well as endogenically driven processes, including obligatory heartwood formation representing secondary changes as the final step in the life cycle of xylem tissue of many tree species. Other secondary changes such as facultative heartwood formation and discolouration of wood in the living or freshly felled tree are associated with the biology of wood and may be caused by active responses of living tissue, by invading microorganisms or by biochemical reactions. Pathological aspects such as attack and decay by microorganisms play an important role in the understanding of the biology of wood. Xylem with annual layers may variously be used as an archive for interactions with the environment and climate. The scientific sub-discipline recording and interpreting such information is called dendrochronology, which allows the exact dating of tree-rings to the year they were formed. Dendroclimatology as one subfield of dendrochronology focusses on the reconstruction of present and past climates, whereas the other subfield called dendroecology deals with changes in local forest environments. Taxonomy is part of wood biological research using anatomical, chemical and genetic characteristics.

Scientific progress in wood biology was in the past and nowadays still is closely related to the methodological progress in biological sciences. A central point for such a relation in earlier times is the development of microscopy. In parallel to the improvement of light microscopy in the nineteenth and twentieth century, the introduction of electron microscopy in the 50s of the twentieth century, as well as the application of spectroscopic methods and synchrotron radiation during the last decades revealed more and more details on the tissue, cell, and molecular level. In the following, an overview on the history of wood biology is given, which is often combined with studies on general plant anatomy.

The beginnings date back into the seventeenth century, where Robert C. Hooke, Marcello Malpighi, Nehemiah Grew and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek were the first to start using simple light microscopes ( Figure 2 ). Hooke (1635–1703), as a universal microscopist, used his enormous technical skills for improving microscope quality, especially through optimized illumination and control of height and angle. He finally achieved magnifications of up to 50× and examined a variety of objects. In 1665, Robert C. Hooke published the book “Micrographia“, which contains details on the porosity of charcoal and the structure of cork. Hooke prepared thin hand sections and was able to identify “empty spaces” surrounded by “walls”. For the first time the term “cells” was used for those units. Around the same time, in the second half of the 17th century, Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694) and Nehemiah Grew (1628–1711) began a systematic approach to studying plant anatomy. Marcello Malpighi published his macroscopic and microscopic observations on plant structures in 1675 in the book entitled “Anatome Plantarum”. The rough inner structure of the bark could be revealed, vessels with spiral thickenings were identified as well as the ray system and some for this time astonishing details like bordered pits in softwoods and tyloses in hardwoods. With regard to the physiological role of the discovered plant structures, however, Malpighi oriented himself too much to animal tissue, which led him to too speculative and false interpretations ( Freund 1951 ; Metcalfe 1979 ). A few years later, in 1682, Nehemiah Grew published his principle work “The Anatomy of Plants” with comparative microscopic descriptions of the internal structure of hardwood and softwood species in relation to their three-dimensional appearance. Although Grew, like Malpighi, made some misinterpretations regarding structure-function relationships, he observed “little bladders” (or “cells”) evidencing the cellular structure of the plant body. Grew also demonstrated the existence of vessels in the “ligneous body” (i.e. xylem), bark fibres, pith tissue, and the so-called “inserted pieces” (i.e. the rays) ( Freund 1951 ; Metcalfe 1979 ). Especially, Grew clearly stated that his work should have the aim to search for common and distinguishing anatomical characteristics, which can be understood as the initiation of systematic plant anatomy. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1722), the third pioneer of microscopical plant anatomy, described characteristics of numerous hardwoods and some softwoods. With his self-made and perfected microscope lenses, van Leeuwenhoek was able to recognize details such as bordered pits, perforation rims in vessels, and a macrofibrillar substructure of the cell wall ( Baas 1982a , b ). Additionally, he recognized relationships between tree-ring widths and wood quality when studying fast-growing ring-porous hardwoods with wide rings displaying better quality than slow-growing ring-porous trees with narrow rings; van Leeuwenhoek also realized that these relationships are the opposite in softwoods. As already mentioned for Malpighi and Grew, also van Leeuwenhoek compared some plant structures and their functions with those in animals, which in turn led to a number of misinterpretations. Nevertheless, van Leeuwenhoek’s achievements undoubtedly have to be acknowledged so that Malpighi, Grew and van Leeuwenhoek can be regarded as the fathers of wood anatomy and wood biology ( Baas 1982a ). As the 18th century was one of stagnation without significant progress in wood biology, the next milestones were reached in the 19th century with the work of several well-known botanists like Anton de Bary (1831–1888), Gottlieb Haberlandt (1854–1945), Theodor Hartig (1805–1880), Robert Hartig (1839–1901), Charles Francois Brisseau de Mirbel (1776–1854), Hugo von Mohl (1805–1872), Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli (1817–1891), Anselme Payen (1795–1871), Johann Evangelist Purkinje (1787–1869), Ludwig Radlkofer (1829–1927), Julius von Sachs (1832–1897), Karl Gustav Sanio (1832–1891), Hermann Schacht (1814–1864), Matthias Jakob Schleiden (1804–1881), Franz Joseph Unger (1800–1870), Julien Vesque (1848–1895), and Julius Wilhelm Albert Wigand (1821–1886). The discovery of the cambium and its description as a “building tissue” has to be highlighted as an important step in understanding and explaining secondary tree growth. A more detailed overview on the development of the concept of cambium as a cellular tissue responsible for wood and bark formation is given in Larson (1994) . Based on the early observations by de Mirbel and the use of Grew’s term “cambium”, the work of Unger, Schleiden, von Mohl, Purkinje, and especially von Nägeli substantially contributed to the understanding of the role of the cambium through the discovery of cell division as the central process for secondary growth and the protoplasm as the cell content responsible for all activities of living cells. Schleiden focused his work on the cytological aspects of plant cells creating the new field of plant cytology.

Selected scientists from the field of wood biology (see also Figure 4 with portraits of G.L. Hartig and R. Hartig). Copyright: von Nägeli : Wikimedia Commons; Bailey : Collection of Historical Sci. Instr., Harvard University/USA; Frey-Wyssling : ETH Zürich/Switzerland; Johannes Liese : courtesy of Walter Liese, Hamburg/Germany; Dadswell : CSIRO Melbourne/Australia; Wardrop : CSIRO Melbourne/Australia; Bosshard : ETH Zürich/Switzerland; Hillis : courtesy of Jugo Ilic, Melbourne/Australia; Schweingruber : WSL Birmensdorf/Switzerland.

Already at that time, increasing attention was paid to the structure of woody cell walls. Von Mohl was the first to describe the lamellar structure of a woody cell wall by applying polarized light microscopy, distinguishing only between primary and secondary lamellae without recognizing the tertiary lamella, which was identified later by Theodor Hartig; also, most structural details of bordered pits in conifers have been correctly shown by von Mohl. Payen has taken a chemical approach to the woody cell wall introducing the term “cellulose” for one of the constituents, which is “similar to starch”. Von Nägeli identified the cell wall consisting of crystalline cellulose and Mulder used the term “lignin” for “another constituent different to cellulose”. In 1850, Wigand resolved the problem of how two adjacent plant cells adhere to each other and was the first to identify a common middle lamella, which was confirmed a few years later by Sanio. Around 1870, some principles of formation and structure of woody cell walls have already been known. During the last decades of the 19th century, Robert Hartig established the new scientific branch of forest pathology and also published the first descriptions of fungal wood decay.

The twentieth century brought manifold technical progress, so that microstructural and chemical characteristics as well as physiological processes could be analyzed in much greater detail. Using conventional light microscopy as well as so called indirect methods such as polarization microscopy, X-ray diffraction and staining techniques, Irving W. Bailey (1884–1967) made a name for himself in the early decades and published several papers on the fine structure of wood tissues. He established the uninucleate condition of the fusiform cambial initials; together with his co-workers Kerr, Vestal and Berkley, Bailey also revealed details of the fine structure of the wood cell wall, especially the non-cellulosic nature of the middle lamella ( Scott 1955 ; Kerr and Bailey 1934 ). These studies finally aimed at an early and rather precise model of wood cell wall layering ( Kerr and Bailey 1934 ). Albert Frey-Wyssling (1900–1988) and Reginald Dawson Preston (1908–2000) substantially contributed to the knowledge about the fine structure of the wood cell wall by using light microscopy-based techniques. Johannes Liese (1891–1952) combined his knowledge on wood anatomy and decay mechanisms with intense studies on wood protection. Johannes Liese’s research in this field aimed at detailed descriptions of standardized testing methods for natural durability and wood preservatives.

With the introduction of the electron microscope to wood biology at around 1950, this novel tool opened a new dimension of structural wood biology. Pioneers in this field, who steadily improved preparation procedures, were Walter Liese (Germany) (*1926), Hiroshi Harada (Japan) (1923–1991), Wilfred Arthur Côté (USA) (1924–2012), Reginald Dawson Preston (UK), Alan Buchanan Wardrop (1921–2003), and Herbert Eric Dadswell (Australia) (1903–1964), Albert Frey-Wyssling, Kurt Mühlethaler (1919–2002) and Hans Heinrich Bosshard (Switzerland) (1925–1996). These early electron microscopic observations revealed numerous details of wood cell walls, such as precise wall layering, orientation of cellulose microfibrils, fine structure of pit membranes, and the occurrence of warts ( Liese and Côté 1960 ; Nimz 1965 ). The first electron micrograph of a pine bordered pit membrane ( Figure 3 ) taken in 1950 by Walter Liese at the institute of Ernst and Helmut Ruska in Berlin (in 1986 E. Ruska received the Nobel prize in physics for “his fundamental work in electron optics and for the design of the first electron microscope”). Central torus and peripheral margo fibrils are well visible. In the second half of the 20th century, Sherwin Carlquist (USA) (*1930), William Edwin (Ted) Hillis (Australia) (1921–2008), and Fritz Hans Schweingruber (Switzerland) (1936–2020) in particular made significant contributions to wood anatomy, representative for a number of other wood scientists all around the world working in the frame of the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA).

First electron micrograph of a pine bordered pit membrane (photo courtesy of Walter Liese, Hamburg/Germany).

With the further improvement of methodology in recent decades, wood scientists and also botanists increasingly focused on biochemical as well as molecular aspects of wood formation ( Fromm 2013 ). Biochemistry in general deals with the structure and function of biological molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids in all processes in a living tree, whereas molecular biology is usually defined as a subdiscipline of biochemistry that focuses only on the nucleic acids. A breakthrough in molecular biology has been achieved during the last 10–15 years by sequencing whole genomes of trees. Complete DNA sequences of forest trees were first published in 2006 for Populus trichorcar ( Tuskan et al. 2006 ) and in 2014 for Eucalyptus grandis ( Myburg et al. 2014 ). As the first conifer species, Picea abies was sequenced in 2013 ( Nystedt et al. 2013 ). Since then, the sequencing of several more tree genomes has been completed.

In the future, such molecular techniques open a new dimension of genetic engineering, primarily aiming at developing transgenic trees with modified characteristics, such as resistance to insect pests and harsh environmental conditions, improved growth for higher biomass production or even altered lignin contents (e.g., less lignin for chemical pulp production and more lignin for energy purposes). Another technique uses DNA markers for precisely tracing the origin of traded wood. This is very promising to further strengthen future activities to combat illegal logging. Besides these molecular techniques also classical macroscopic and microscopic wood identification are indispensable for supporting authorities in the control of globally traded wood. This is also true for the identification of CITES-protected species (CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Within the next few decades, it is expected that a high number of so-called lesser-known species will be increasingly traded, therefore existing databases on wood identification have to be continuously extended. Currently, in several laboratories scientists are working on the development of reliable automatic identification systems. Wood biology with its diverse research fields, e.g., on cell wall formation processes, on cell wall fine structure, and aspects on structure-function relationships, remains important also through large overlapping with research activities in wood chemistry and wood physics.

4 Wood physics

wood chemistry

wood anatomy and biology as well as

classical physics, mechanics and strength of materials

Wood physics is understood as the “theory of the physical and mechanical properties of wood and wood-based materials”. Figure 4 shows selected important scientists.

Selected scientists from the fields of wood physics and wood based materials (with a focus on wood physics). Copyright: Duhamel de Monceau, Cotta, R. Hartig, P. Hartig, Perkitny, Flemming, Klauditz, Vorreiter, Trendelenburg, Keylwerth, Bodig : Niemz and Sonderegger (2021) ; Ugolev: P. Niemz ; Schneider, Kollmann: Holzforschung München/Germany ; Skaar, Siau, Maloney, Stamm : Forest Products Laboratory, Madison/USA.

the behaviour of wood related to moisture (basics of moisture sorption, swelling and shrinkage)

the influence of temperature on the wood properties, the heat conduction and the heat storage and

the mechanical, rheological and acoustic properties of wood and wood-based materials.

Wood physics also deals with the theory of the relationships between structure and properties of solid wood and wood-based materials and their modelling. Due to the natural character of wood as a biological material, a number of material-specific properties are to be taken into account compared to other materials such as steel and concrete. Some examples are inhomogeneity, anisotropy and hygroscopic behaviour of wood. All wood properties depend on wood moisture, temperature and time.

Knowledge of the mechanical-physical properties is an important basis for the production of timber and wood-based materials, their processing and appropriate use. The development and the use of modern manufacturing processes and computer-aided manufacturing also require comprehensive knowledge of the physical-mechanical properties of wood and wood-based materials.

In industrial manufacturing, physical effects or properties are increasingly used for quality control. Examples include lumber grading, colorimetry and detection of wood defects (e.g., tracheid effect). In the field of quality control, today, e.g., sound propagation, eigenfrequency measurement, colorimetry, X-ray radiation, laser technology and NIR spectroscopy as well as electrical property measurements (for humidity measurement) are used. Almost all methods of classical material research are used in wood research today (nanoindentation, atomic force microscopy, mechanical testing in the environmental scanning microscope, spectroscopy (e.g., IR, NIR, FTIR, RAMAN) including correlations with physical and mechanical properties. Various optical methods of strain measurement are state of the art today (e.g., based on photogrammetry as digital image correlation).

The first scientific approaches to characterize physico-mechanical properties of wood date back to e.g., Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700–1782) and Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707–1788). Leclerc de Buffon was the first to describe the correlation between wood density and strength ( Köstler et al. 1960 ). He already carried out tests to compare the properties of small specimens with those of large ones. But, a lot of basic work was also done earlier (material characteristics, density measurements), which is described in older encyclopaedias [e.g., Johann Georg Krünitz (1728–1796), “Oekonomische Encyclopädie” (The Oeconomic Encyclopaedia), published between 1773 and 1858, 242 volumes with 600–800 pages each] ( Matejak and Niemz 2011 ).

Between 1750 and 1830 there was a flood of publications on wood production and utilization (Beckmann 1780). In particular, works by Georg Ludwig Hartig (1764–1837) and Heinrich Cotta (1763–1844) with the focus on strength properties should be mentioned here. During this time, the linear thermal expansion of wood was also investigated for the first time (Struwe, Glatzel, Villari), however, the hygroscopic behaviour of wood was not yet sufficiently taken into account. Building on all this work, Karl Karmarsch published an overview on the properties and processing (technology) of wood in the “Handbook of Mechanical Technology” in 1837 ( Karmarsch 1851 ). Academic education at universities in the field of forest and wood dates back to this time. In Germany, the first forestry departments were founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century (e.g., in Tharandt, Hannoversch-Münden) ( Scamoni 1960 ).

Extensive work on recording the properties of wood began in the middle of the nineteenth century ( Hartig 1885 ). Nördlinger published detailed properties of wood in 1860 ( Nördlinger 1860 ). The work of B. Volbehr in Kiel, Germany (1896), on wood swelling should also be mentioned. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Janka in Austria carried out extensive studies on wood hardness and strength ( Köstler et al. 1960 ). In this way, many elements of today’s wood science were developed, but there was not yet a “science of wood” in the true sense. This is not least due to the fact that there was no targeted wood research in corresponding research institutes until 1910. The research was more or less focused on forestry or forest utilization. This is still the case today in some countries.

First summaries of the state of the art of wood science were presented in 1936 by Franz Kollmann (1906–1987), ( Kollmann 1936 ) and in 1939 by Reinhard Trendelenburg (1907–1941) ( Trendelenburg 1939 ). In this context, the work of Leopold Vorreiter (1904–1984) published in 1949 should also be mentioned ( Vorreiter 1949 ). Kollmann’s book in the second, greatly expanded edition under the title “Technology of Wood and Wood-Based Materials” (in German) is still a standard work in wood research today ( Kollmann 1951 ). This has primarily documented the status of the scientific work. In collaboration with Wilfred Arthur Côté Jr, it also was published in an English version ( Kollmann and Côté 1968 ). In the USA, the Wood Handbook of the Forest Products Laboratory was first issued in 1935 and slightly revised in 1939. The most recent edition was published in 2010, which is available online. The focus of this book to date has been on the transfer of scientific knowledge into the practice of wood use. Alfred Stamm ( Stamm 1964 ) summarized in particular the physical properties of wood in his book “Wood and Cellulose Science”. Joachim Radkau published a very interesting overview of the history of timber use (in German: Radkau 2007 ; in English: Radkau 2012 ).

The founding of wood research institutes, the industrialisation of wood processing, the increased use of wood in construction and the development of wood materials (plywood since 1900 in Germany, fibreboard since 1900 in England, particleboard since 1940 in Germany), led to a large number of publications in the field of wood physics.

From the beginning to the middle of the twentieth century, wood physics research was intensively pursued in the field of mechanical engineering and aviation engineering. Many well-known scientists were active in this field. Particularly worth mentioning are Franz Kollmann (Germany), Rudolf Keylwerth (Germany), R. L. Hankinson (USA), and Arvo Ylinen (Finland). Well-known contributions also came from the physics itself such as the study of piezoelectric properties by Alexei V. Shubnikov ( Shubnikov 1946 ) and Eiichi Fukada ( Fukada 1955 ). A trend that is increasingly appreciated today.

Many studies on mechanics date back to the period around Second World War, when a great deal of wood research was carried out worldwide ( Anderson 2010 ; Steinsiek 2008 ). After the Second World War physical research focused on the physics of wood-based materials (Rudolf Keylwerth (1912–1969), Wilhelm Klauditz (1903–1963) both Germany, Fred Fahrni Switzerland (1907–1979)). Thomas Maloney (1938–2014) made a major contribution to the development of wood-based materials in the United States at Washington State University ( Maloney 1999 ).

Research into the fundamentals of the basics of structural mechanics and fracture behaviour has gained considerable importance, in particular through the use of modern computational methods (e.g., finite element method, multi-scale modelling), see e.g. Kent Persson (2000) . Substantial work has been done in particular in the USA, Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia (e.g., Ugolev 1986 , 2014 ), and Sweden ( Table 2 ).

Overview of selected works on wood physics ( Niemz 1993 ; Niemz and Sonderegger 2021 ).

In 1982, Bodig (1934–2007) and Jayne published the first overview of the structural and fracture mechanics of wood and wood-based materials in their book “Mechanics of Wood and Wood Composites” ( Bodig and Jayne 1982 ).

The rheological properties of wood (e.g., Roth (1935), Dinwoodie, Niemz (1982), Martensson, Ranta-Maunus, Hunt, Gressel (1972), Hanhijärvi (1995)

The fracture behaviour of wood and wood-based materials by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and acoustic emission analysis (e.g., Beall, Kitayama, Nogouchi, Landis),

The determination of defects and quality control of wood and wood-based materials on the basis of wood-physical effects (especially in USA: Galligan, Pellerin, Beall, and Japan: Fukada, Tsuchikawa)

Colour measurements

Grading and quality control of wood and wood-based materials (strength, internal defects, colour deviations, structural defects, e.g., Glos, TU Munich/Germany).

In recent years, research has also been increasingly devoted to the microscopic, submicroscopic and molecular fields (e.g., Bodig and Jayne 1982 ; Geitman and Gril 2018 ).

Modern wood physics research requires cooperation of experts from different disciplines (e.g., wood science, physics, chemistry, mechanics, materials science) ( Geitman and Gril 2018 ; Montero et al. 2012 ). Only in this way can methods such as computed tomography in the synchrotron, X-ray microtomography, neutron tomography or wave propagation in wood be successfully applied.

Acknowledgments

This article is an adapted version of a chapter by Peter Niemz, Carsten Mai and Uwe Schmitt, in: Niemz, Peter, Teischinger, Alfred and Sandberg, Dick (Eds.). Handbook of wood science and technology . Springer, Heidelberg. The book is expected to be published in 2022. The use of material from the said chapter in the present article is granted with kind permission from Springer, Heidelberg. The present review includes several parts that were previously published in Niemz and Sonderegger (2021) . The selected sections of the original publication were translated into English, and the content has been expanded and adapted to the structure of the Springer Handbook of wood science and technology . The authors and Springer, Heidelberg are grateful to Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich for having granted kind permission. The authors would like to thank Prof. i.R. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Otto Wienhaus, TU Dresden for a fruitful discussion.

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

Research funding: None declared.

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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The development of wood technology and technology developments in the wood industries—from history to future

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The cost pressure and capacity utilization in the wood industry are leading to a demand for large amounts of cheap wood as raw material. As a consequence, forestry is providing a raw material often produced by supporting faster growing species under specific silvicultural management, primarily concentrating on the quantity and macroscopic quality. This effect is tightened by promoting wood as a renewable energy source. In general, many wood products can be produced from wood of only a few species. The different species have different wood properties and different productivities, show different responses to silvicultural management and enable different process optimisations. These lead in forestry to favouritism of some species. Process optimisation and specialisation due to cost pressure are also evident in the sawmill industry and they lead to a group of bulk products which build a relatively cheap raw material source for the continuing wood-processing industry. Changes already at ...

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At present in Department of Wood Science a research in two main filds there is being carried out:

• ecological (biological) wood science - a  a relation environment – forest – tree – wood,
• technical wood science - in relation wood – various interactions – wood properties: resonance wood, propagation of ultasound, ultastructure of wood, hygro-mechanical properties of wood (creep of wood), moisture content (strength of earlywood and latewood).

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Forestry and Wood Technology

Forestry and wood technology research papers/topics, woody plant species diversity and structure in telet forest in amhara sayint district, south wollo zone, amhara regional state, ethiopia.

Abstract: A Study on woody plant diversity and structure were conducted on Telet Forest in Sayint District, South Wollo Zone of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Sixty four main quadrats of 20m × 20m with which five small quadrats of 5mx5m were systematically laid along transects. In each main quadrat, all tree/shrub and saplings and seedlings of woody species within the subplots were counted and recorded. Tree height of plants was also measured using a meter-stick so as to categorize plants into he...

Effect of thermal and alkali treatment on Pterocarpus Angolensis (Mukwa) wood flour

Abstract: Environmental friendly pre-treatment of fibre has been lately adopted by many researchers worldwide but not fully understood. Although various chemical modifications of fibre through several chemical treatments have been explored, but less has been done on lower sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentrations. This paper investigated the effect of thermalization at 115 C and lower NaOH of concentrations (1, 3 and 5) effect on mukwa wood flour as a way of minimizing chemical impact on possib...

A Preliminary Evaluation of the Flexural Properties of Wood Veneer Laminated Cement-Bonded Particleboard from Tropical Hardwood Species

INTRODUCTION Wood-cement bonded particleboard, was originally invented in Germany about eight decades ago. Since then it has been gaining acceptance in many parts of the world as a sheet element or the building construction-industry. The" interest in the board can be associated with a number of factors. It is highly resistant to flre, insect aud fungal attack and has excellent weather ability and good accoustic insulation properties (Deppe,1974; Dinwoodie, 1978;1981). With respect to the afor...

Poverty and land access in Igbo land Nigeria: implications for policy and Agroenterpreneurship development

Abstract Household livelihood across Africa 50 years after independence have recorded lean improvements especially in terms of access to essential production inputs. Household rate of land access, means of access, Household rate of land access, means of access, welfare and investment capacities, land cost and the linkage between access to land and the above measured parameters were investigated using a set of questionnaires administered to urban and rural settlements. Descriptive results show...

Determinants Of Unwillingness To Practice Farm Forestry Among Households In The Humid Zone Of Nigeria

Abstract Public sector dominance of forestry practices across the globe impedes realization of local and international forestry development targets despite huge local and international investments in the subsector. The need for private forestry practice as compliment to public initiatives on forestry development therefore becomes imperative. This paper reports the bottlenecks for private farm forestry practices among households in the humid zone of Nigeria where environmental hazards necessit...

Logging Residues Quantities and Some Properties of Solid and Finger Jointed Lumber of Stem (Off-Cuts) and Branch Wood of Some Ghanaian Tropical Hardwoods

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was four-fold: First, to estimate merchantable logging residues left in the forest after logging; second, to investigate the natural durability of stem and branch wood of five species; third, to compare the bending strength of solid and finger-jointed lumber; and finally to investigate the influence of anatomical properties on natural durability and mechanical properties of wood. The five wood species were Entandrophragma cylindricum (sapele), Entandrophrag...

EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISMS TECHNOLOGY IN INDUSTRIAL WOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT

The huge quantity of waste generated from industries pose a major problem of proper and adequate treatment. Many methods have been discovered for proper waste management so as to convert waste into reusable by-products. This research highlights the use of one of the simple and easy methods-Effective Microorganism (EM) Technology. Here, microorganisms from natural sources are used to convert different types of wood residues from a large wood industrial complex into a reusable form. It has ...

BIOCONVERSION OF INDUSTRIAL WOOD WASTES INTO VERMICOMPOST BY UTILIZING AFRICAN NIGHT CRAWLERS (EUDRILUS EUGENIAE)

Large amounts of lignocellulosic waste are generated through forestry and agricultural practices, paper-pulp industries, timber industries, and many agro industries. They pose an environmental pollution problem. One of the most economically viable processes for the conversion of lignocellulosic wastes into useful products is the use of earthworms. This process by which earthworms are used to convert organic materials is known as vermicomposting. In the present study, vermibeds were prepar...

A Feasibility Study on Composite Bricks from Sawdust and Boiler Ash Using Cement as A Binder

The present study was carried out with an objective to analyse the feasibility of composite production using sawdust, boiler ash and cement as raw materials. The study investigated various combinations of sawdust, boiler ash and cement as the raw materials for composite brick production. A total of 24 bricks were made on volume ratio basis of sawdust to cement (1:3 and 1:2), boiler ash to cement (1:3 and 1:2) and sawdust, boiler ash to cement(1:1:1 and 1:1:2). The bricks produced were ...

PRESENT STATUS AND CHALLENGES OF WOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN INDIA

 This article summarizes the present status and challenges of academic programmes in the field of Wood Science and Technology (WST) in Indian universities and other institutions, with special emphasis to post graduate education. Though the WST education has been running since several decades in India, there is very slow improvement in terms of the number of institutions offering this programme, when compared to many other professional courses. Now there are only 8 institutions in the country...

IMPACT OF ECONOMICAL AND MANAGERIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN KADUNA STATE-NIGERIA-converted

ABSTRACT Nigeria’s textile industry is the second largest textile industry in Africa employing thousand of workforce and millions of indirect workers. It has been identified as the dependable  employer of labour and source of financial security for most Nigeria youths the sector employed 25% workers in the nation’s manufacturing sector. The textile industry has one of the most complicated industrial chain in the manufacturing industry. This study however, is aimed at known the impact o...

ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION AND REJECTION OF URBAN TREES IN AKURE SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT Trees have been an important aspect of human settlements from history in the days of our forefathers and only a few of the urban dwellers have recognized the benefits gotten from these trees. Urban trees has several benefits it provides to the society, including physiological benefits, aesthetic benefits, prevention of land degradation, reduces increased noise level, social and ecological benefits, provision of fruits, nuts, leaves, fuel wood, fodder, vegetables, shade, and windbreak...

Impregnation Modification of Wood Seminar

The excellent properties of wood are widely recognized due to the fact that it has been used in the manufacture of structures and shelters from the earliest ages of man. The demand for forest and forests product keeps on increasing as the forest estate is drastically reducing with increasing population and civilization. The increase in the demand of forest and its products in Nigeria has led to the over-exploitation of the Natural Forest and thereby affecting has abundant effect on deforestat...

Paper on Influence of Thermo-Chemical Modification on the Physical and Dimensional Properties of Leucaena leucocephala Wood

 Abstract: This study was carried out to examine the physical and mechanical properties of thermally and chemically modified Leucaena leucocephala wood.  Sample planks were obtained from Akure and reduced to defect free samples of 20mm × 20mm × 60mm. Wood samples were oven dried at 105 oC and cooled in a dessicator to a constant weight before the thermal treatment. Heat treatment of wood was carried out in a Muffle Furnace at 140 0C, 160 0Cand 180 0C for 1hr and 2 hrs. Butyl Acetate was u...

Forestry and Wood Technology is a field thats studies forest management as a renewable natural resource for the benefit of society, the ecosphere and the wood processing industry. Browse academic documents in Forestry and Wood Technology. Projects, thesis, seminars, research papers, dissertation topics in Forestry and Wood Technology. Forestry & Wood Technology projects, thesis, seminars, papers, dissertations, course note, questions etc

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Meet the architect creating wood structures that shape themselves

Achim Menges uses computer-guided techniques designed to make buildings more sustainable and affordable.

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Humanity has long sought to tame wood into something more predictable. Sawmills manufacture lumber from trees selected for consistency. Wood is then sawed into standard sizes and dried in kilns to prevent twisting, cupping, or cracking. Generations of craftsmen have employed sophisticated techniques like dovetail joinery, breadboard ends, and pocket flooring to keep wood from distorting in their finished pieces. 

But wood is inherently imprecise. Its grain reverses and swirls. Trauma and disease manifest in scars and knots. 

Instead of viewing these natural tendencies as liabilities, Achim Menges , an architect and professor at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, sees them as wood’s greatest assets. Menges and his team at the Institute for Computational Design and Construction are uncovering new ways to build with the material by using computational design—which relies on algorithms and data to simulate and predict how wood will behave within a structure long before it is built. He hopes this work will enable architects to create more sustainable and affordable timber buildings by reducing the amount of wood required. 

Menges’s recent work has focused on creating “self-shaping” timber structures like the HygroShell , which debuted at the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2023. Constructed from prefabricated panels of a common building material known as cross-laminated timber, HygroShell morphed over a span of five days, unfurling into a series of interlaced sheets clad with wooden scale-like shingles that stretched to cover the structure as it expanded. Its final form, designed as a proof of concept, is a delicately arched canopy that rises to nearly 33 feet (10 meters) but is only an inch thick. In a time-lapse video, the evolving structure resembles a bird stretching its wings. 

HygroShell takes its name from hygroscopicity, a property of wood that causes it to absorb or lose moisture with humidity changes. As the material dries, it contracts and tends to twist and curve. Traditionally, lumber manufacturers have sought to minimize these movements. But through computational design, Menges’s team can predict the changes and structure the material to guide it into the shape they want. 

“From the start, I was motivated to understand computation not as something that divides the physical and the digital world but, instead, that deeply connects them.” Achim Menges, architect and professor, University of Stuttgart in Germany

The result is a predictable and repeatable process that creates tighter curves with less material than what can be attained through traditional construction techniques. Existing curved structures made from cross-laminated timber (also known as mass timber) are limited to custom applications and carry premium prices, Menges says. Self-shaping, in contrast, could offer industrial-scale production of curved mass timber structures for far less cost. 

To build HygroShell, the team created digital profiles of hundreds of freshly sawed boards using data about moisture content, grain orientation, and more. Those parameters were fed into modeling software that predicted how the boards were likely to distort as they dried and simulated how to arrange them to achieve the desired structure. Then the team used robotic milling machines to create the joints that held the panels together as the piece unfolded. 

“What we’re trying to do is develop design methods that are so sophisticated they meet or match the sophistication of the material we deal with,” Menges says. 

Menges views “self-shaping,” as he calls his technique, as a low-energy way of creating complex curved architectures that would otherwise be too difficult to build on most construction sites. Typically, making curves requires extensive machining and a lot more materials, at considerable cost. By letting the wood’s natural properties do the heavy lifting, and using robotic machinery to prefabricate the structures, Menges’s process allows for thin-walled timber construction that saves material and money.

The shape, structure, and construction process of Menges’s HygroShell pavilion are all based on data that shows how different materials change over time.

If they were self-shaped, curved elements could halve the material requirements for certain structural features in a multistory timber building, Menges says. “You would save a lot of material simply because curvature adds stiffness. That’s why we see everything is curved in nature.”

Menges began his career in the late 1990s, at a time when architects had just begun to use powerful new software to design buildings. This shift opened new possibilities, but often those digital designs ran afoul of the material’s physical constraints, he says. It was the tension between the physical and the digital that inspired Menges to pursue computational design.

“From the start, I was motivated to understand computation not as something that divides the physical and the digital world but, instead, that deeply connects them,” he says. 

His interest in self-shaping structures was inspired by pinecones, which—long after falling from trees—retain the biological programming to open and expose their seeds as temperatures rise. “That’s a plant motion that does not require any motors, nor does it require any muscles,” Menges says. “It is programmed into the material.” 

Pinecones made him realize that just as robots are programmed to perform certain actions, materials like wood can be manipulated to carry out specific behaviors that are hard-coded in their DNA as a response to a stimulus.

Apart from the HygroShell, Menges has used self-shaping techniques to create proof-of-concept projects like the Urbach Tower, a 45-foot spiraling wood structure overlooking the fields of the Rems Valley near Urbach, Germany. Instead of using energy-intensive mechanical processes that require heavy machinery, the team prefabricated a dozen curved, self-shaped wood panels and assembled them on site, reducing the time it would otherwise take to build such a structure. 

And in 2023, his team worked with researchers from Germany’s University of Freiburg to create the livMatS Biomimetic Shell, a structure made from 127 wooden cassettes, each resembling the shape of a honeycomb. Menges used self-shaping to design a system of 3D-printed wooden window blinds that opened and closed in response to changes in relative humidity. Embedded in the wood shell is a solar gate that closes in warm weather, shading the space, and opens during colder months to provide passive solar heating. Compared with a conventional timber building, this structure has half the environmental impact over its life cycle.

Menges’s work is coming at a time when the sustainability of mass timber buildings—those with structural components made from engineered wood instead of steel or concrete—is under scrutiny. Concerns range from where the timber is sourced to whether preserving forests sequesters more carbon than harvesting them for building material, even if building with wood reduces carbon emissions relative to producing concrete and steel. There are also worries about what happens to all the wood left behind during the logging process. Trees may be a renewable resource, but they require decades to mature and are already threatened by climate change. That’s what led Menges and others to advocate for more efficient building practices that don’t waste wood. 

Architects face a dilemma, however. Mass-timber buildings could be built using less wood, but the less material is used, the more susceptible the structure is to fire, says Michael Green, principal of Michael Green Architecture in Vancouver. 

“The way we protect wood is by overbuilding it to create a thickness that can resist a certain amount of time under fire,” Green says. The standards depend on the type of building and the variety of wood used, but Green generally adds around 3.6 centimeters (1.4 inches) of extra material to his structures for each hour of required burn time. The more people occupy a building, the longer it is required to resist fire and, in the case of mass-timber buildings, the thicker the wood structure. 

Green sees Menges’s work as important foundational research that may lead to breakthroughs influencing wood architecture in decades to come. But he doesn’t see self-shaped architecture being widely deployed outside the towers and pavilions Menges has already designed. 

The livMatS Biomimetic Shell features 3D-printed wooden window blinds that open and close in response to changes in relative humidity.

“It’s teaching us less about what we are actually going to build in the next five years and more about what we need to learn so we can develop other products that support that,” he says. 

Even without widespread adoption of self-shaping techniques, Menges believes, computational design will continue to unlock new ways of building with wood. He sees a future where the knots, crooks, and branches of trees are viewed not as defects but as construction tools, each with its own unique properties. 

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The Nasdaq Just Notched Another All-Time High, and Cathie Wood Thinks This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Could Soar Another 1,300%

• Cathie Wood recently revised her price target for Tesla stock, calling for a huge increase from current trading levels.
• Wood's thesis relies heavily on a successful launch of Tesla's Robotaxi initiative.
• Motley Fool Issues Rare “All In” Buy Alert

NASDAQ: TSLA

As the Nasdaq soars to new heights, technology bull Cathie Wood reveals a new price target for Tesla.

It's only halfway through 2024, and yet the capital markets are roaring like there's no tomorrow. The Nasdaq Composite is up 19% so far this year, and reached an intraday high of 17,936 just days ago on June 20.

The Nasdaq is a tech-heavy index. Given the euphoria surrounding all things artificial intelligence (AI), tech stocks in particular have been major contributors to the Nasdaq's red-hot start to the year.

However, not all AI opportunities have fared so well. Shares in electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla ( TSLA 0.02% ) are down about 20% in 2024. Although concerns about EV demand and competition in the sector linger, one investor in particular is undeterred.

Ark Invest Chief Executive Officer Cathie Wood recently released a revised price target for Tesla stock. Her base case model is forecasting a price of $2,600 per share in Tesla by 2029 -- implying about 1,300% upside from current trading levels.

Let's dive into Wood's research and assess if Tesla stock is a good opportunity right now.

It's all about Robotaxi

Right now, Tesla's revenue largely stem from two sources: EVs and energy storage products. Over the years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that his vision for Tesla includes products in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), both of which will be used to complement the EV business.

One of the biggest initiatives at Tesla right now is the company's development of autonomous driving software. Dubbed full self-driving (FSD), Musk aims to integrate this technology across Tesla's fleet of EVs. While this is exciting, it's really only the first phase of Musk's long-term vision.

The broader scope of FSD has become known as Robotaxi. Essentially, Musk wants to create a large-scale fleet of Tesla vehicles that are both fully capable of autonomous driving and constantly in motion at any given time.

Think of it this way: Instead of hailing a taxi in a city or going to rental car service at an airport, you could have the option to just order a Tesla Robotaxi right from your phone. The implications for such a service should not be underappreciated. The advent of a widespread Tesla fleet could completely disrupt ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft , as well as delivery and logistics services from DoorDash and even Amazon .

Image source: Getty Images.

How would Robotaxi help Tesla's overall business?

The crux of Wood's bullish thesis hinges on a successful launch of Robotaxi. However, understanding the details around the economics of Robotaxi sheds light into why the tech investor is calling for a more than 10-fold increase in Tesla stock.

While Robotaxi may seem like a mere extension of the core EV business, it's actually quite different. When a consumer buys a Tesla, it's highly likely that this is a one-time purchase, or at least one that won't be repeated for a number of years. By contrast, consumers could use Robotaxi services an infinite number of times.

In essence, Robotaxi will carry much higher gross margins than Tesla's EV operation. Wood describes the margin profile on Robotaxi as akin to a software company, which her research suggests sits at about 80% on average. When compared to the average margin of about 16% for auto makers, it's understandable why Musk is relentlessly focused on launching Robotaxi.

The compound effect of a high-margin Robotaxi fleet is that this operation could spur a surge in cash flow, which Tesla can then use to reinvest into other projects and further differentiate from the competition.

Is Tesla stock a good buy right now?

I think investors may have soured too much on Tesla, as reflected by the share price decline. Although growth in the EV business is slowing, it's important to remember that the macroeconomy also poses its share of challenges, from lingering inflation to high interest rates. Both of these factors can affect a business in any industry, especially automobiles.

Right now, much of the chatter around Robotaxi is reserved for speculation from Wall Street pundits. However, Tesla is set to make a major announcement on Aug. 8 about Robotaxi.

I see this as a good opportunity for investors to dial in and get a glimpse into Musk's roadmap. I think a prudent strategy for investors is to monitor Tesla's progress as it relates to FSD, EV demand, and the rollout of Robotaxi.

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Adam Spatacco has positions in Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, DoorDash, Tesla, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .

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Press Release

U.S. Department of Energy Announces Over $63 Million to Support Commercialization of Transformative Energy Technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  In support of President Biden's Investing in America agenda , the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $63.5 million for four transformative technologies through the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program. The four projects have demonstrated a viable path to market and represent technologies focused on aerogels for energy-efficient insulated glass units, thermal batteries to supply combined heat and power from renewable electricity, energy-dense solid state batteries, and cement decarbonization. SCALEUP supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to advance critical research and development helping to propel America’s energy innovation leadership on the global stage.

“America is an innovation superpower, and President Biden is helping to scale up the next generation of clean energy solutions that will advance the nation even further toward our net-zero goals,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “By catalyzing the commercialization of promising technologies, we are empowering the private sector to go all in to boost American manufacturing, strengthen national security and ensure our competitive edge.” 

The SCALEUP program provides new funding to previous ARPA-E awardees that have successfully de-risked their technology and established a viable route to commercial deployment.

The four projects selected as part of the latest SCALEUP program are: 

• AeroShield Materials (Waltham, MA) will develop a pilot manufacturing facility for aerogels for high-efficiency insulated glass units that will enable residential and commercial buildings to become more energy efficient, meeting current and future ENERGY STAR targets for windows. (Award amount: $14,500,000) 
• Antora Energy (Sunnyvale, CA) will scale up production of its thermal battery technology, which turns low-cost renewable energy into reliable, on-demand heat and power for industrial facilities, enabling rapid decarbonization of the industrial sector. (Award amount: $14,500,000) 
• Ion Storage Systems (Beltsville, MD) will support domestic manufacturing of next generation solid-state lithium-metal batteries and accelerate commercialization of the technology into the electric vehicle market. (Award amount: $20,000,000)
• Queens Carbon (Pine Brook, NJ) will develop an on-site pilot facility capable of producing carbon-neutral supplemental cementitious materials using industry standard raw materials to support decarbonized cement production. (Award amount: $14,500,000) 

This is the third cohort of projects selected under the SCALEUP program, and you can access full project descriptions for the technologies above on the ARPA-E website.

One of the project teams from the initial SCALEUP—Natron Energy, a global leader in sodium-ion battery technology—recently began commercial-scale operations at its manufacturing facility in Holland, Michigan.  LongPath Technologies—another awardee from the initial SCALEUP—has created a paradigm shift in methane detection and mitigation by developing technologies capable of detecting over 90% of methane leaks down to 0.2 kg/hr from nearly a mile away. LongPath recently received an LPO conditional commitment of $189 million. Finally, Sila—a next-generation battery materials company also funded under SCALEUP—was selected to received up to   $100 million in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)   to support the build-out of a facility in Moses Lake, Washington. Early ARPA-E funding and SCALEUP support were instrumental in the company’s success, and continued support demonstrates how critical President Biden’s whole-of-government strategy is to supporting energy technology from early stages, such as R&D, to full-scale deployment.   In 2021, ARPA-E issued the second SCALEUP program, which went on to support work in hybrid electric aircraft; high-power density magnetic components; efficient, cost-effective and compact U.S.-manufactured electric vehicle charging equipment; wood products that are stronger, lighter and less expensive than structural steel; rare earth-free permanent magnets; floating offshore wind; and geomechanical energy storage.  The SCALEUP program has successfully demonstrated what can happen when technical experts are empowered with the commercialization support to develop a strong pathway to market, and this latest cohort furthers the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to supporting American energy innovation. 

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