Wood science has gone a long way, at least in one century. What are topics that could be important in the near future? Does wood anatomy see a revival? Is the cell wall the raw model for next generation materials? Or is wood science" disappearing as everything will be called "biomaterials"? What could the near future look like?
All concerned seem to be interested only in the application aspects except for the reviewers of highly reputed journals!
highly reputed journals is one thing, innovative trends is another. I agree, they seem to be little related.
When we get a carbon tax as the only way to price carbon in the market, it will substantially change the value of wood products, raising the value where they drive out the most fossil emissions. EWP will benefit resulting in new EWP products. This will be a big deal if we can get past subsidizing the bottom of the wood food chain just becasue there is no current value of carbon in most markets.
Good point! But there is also a strong looby with the oil-based industries, so I guess that will still take some time. There was much "hope" in the nano-field, i.e. nanocellulose for composites or reinforcment for adhesives. I dont think thats will grow into something promising. Major problem in Europe is the cost rise for wood as more and more wood is burned.
It is important to promote re-forestation of arid lands with adaptable species of economical value, capable of opposing desertification while promoting fixation of carbon dioxide. Considering Mediterranean Basin, Cork Oak ('Quercus suber L) provides such a valuable resource. Cork is a 'green' material possessing interesting mechanical and thermal properties. It has nearly null Poisson's ratio. It has a pleasant aesthetical appearance and can be engineered into derivative products which economical potential is far from being fully recognized (e.g. cork-based Linoleum and Rubbercork composite materials). As with other wood-based products, the life-cycle of the cork exploration is unfortunately very long (9 years, starting commercial exploitation with trees aged 25), what compromises its ability to attract farmers and to compete with oil-derived polymers in unregulated markets. Consequently, this economical activity is currently very difficult to support without a fair political subvention. That would be justifiable, by socially understandable reasons, namely its cultural importance, water retention value and carbon fixation value. There has been little effort to ameliorate the specie’s productivity, and a considerable effort should be directed for research progress at this level. Economical and social research seems also needed as supportive for political decision.
One of the most-read articles in Biomacromolecules is this one. What do you think, will that topic have a great future?
Transparent, Conductive, and Printable Composites Consisting of TEMPO-Oxidized Nanocellulose and Carbon Nanotube, by
Hirotaka Koga, Tsuguyuki Saito, Takuya Kitaoka, Masaya Nogi, Katsuaki Suganuma, Akira Isogai
Biomacromelecules, DOI: 10.1021/bm400075f »
Article Transparent, Conductive, and Printable Composites Consisting...
Interesting questions. Actually, the question can be extended to more basic one : What is wood science? I have some colleagues working on producing nanocellulose from agricultural residues or even bacterial cellulose. Do these fields still remain in "wood science"?
Wood science or lignocellulose science? If the topic involves cell wall deconstruction I would claim for lignocellulose. By the way, I work primarily with sugarcane bagasse.
Sensu lato nanocellulose from agricultural waste might be still "wood science", mabe because many wood scientists are now doing this. But I agree, its a compromise....as it might also be applied polymer science, agricultural crop utilization, macromolecular science....the term "lignocellulosics" is often used, however, it misses out the hemicellulose. All terms have some flaws indeed.
Does anybody see a future in research into regular wood-based composites, i.e. particleboard, fibreboard, OSB?
This is good question! Many scientists around have switched to hot research topics such as nanocellulose and publised papers with IF much higher than traditional wood science region. Wood is a unique materials with so many merits but still with so many drawbacks to overcome. So I really hope that the wood science would not go too far away!
I don't see how you can count compostie boards out as they can substitute for fossil intensive products far better than any fuel based use of the wood. A wooden I-joist of OSB and LVL has a leverage to displace 5 times the carbon in a steel floor joist. Wood fiber for ethanol is about 0.4 times.
Compared to wood-pastic composites, classical wood-based panels (particle boards, OSB..) are by far "greener"....is that right?
Wood science is far from disappearing. The beauty of it is that there are many interesting topic ranging from wood chemistry and extractives to large structural applications. Without forgetting numerical modeling that should enables predicting the behavior of this rather complex material, or forestry that is at the base of the story.
I suggest you have a look on the national research program in Switzerland NFP66 (http://www.nfp66.ch/E/projects/Pages/default.aspx) where many different projects work on the same material but at different length scales and with different approaches. It will give you a good overview of the hot topics in wood science.
In the future, natural (solid) wood will become more and more important also as interior material with measurable, positive effects on human health. See the pioneering research on Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra) and European Spruce (Picea abies) made by the Joanneum Research Institute in Graz (Dr. Maximilian Moser).
Does this mean all the wood-based composites will loose market share / importance ?
I agree with Klaus Richter that today "wood science" or "forest products" have to be seen sensu latu. Today, we work with (bio)polymers (polymer science), natural fibers (agriculture rather than forestry), polymer processing technologies (injection molding, extrusion), non-woven technology (textile industry)...all of those not sensu stricto wood science and technology issues,.....I also fully agree with Klaus that knowledge about plant and wood anatomy could be a key for future material developments. So "classical" wood science education is still a good thing to have.....
I believe that the plant and therefore wood is an unique biomaterial. The increase on the world population is a key factor for everything. The world population will reach near to 9.85 billion in 2050. Thatswhy urbanization, health and energy will be the new directions. Wood and wood science will find suitable places in these areas. I can suggest following topics:
1- Cheap and modular wooden constructions for disaster effected regions (earthquake, storm, flood etc)
2- Wood and wooden products or bacterial cellulose related small production possibilities for underdevoloped countries, people and refugees.
3- I see also and direction in biomimetic of plant-wood and a philosophic aproach according to wooden structure.
Wood is one of the most important materials - in my opinion.
Still, there is a lot to do. If you think about it there is still something to be done in the first stage of xylogenesis. Like: how a tree grows in girth. Usually I hear that wood is growing and it pushes bark aside - but it is impossible. Between wood and bark is located a thin, fragrant tissue, which would be destroyed, if wood would push anything - not to mention the pressure which is necessary to push the periderm... Everything is simply wrong - including the awkward orientation of cells divisions.
I know now, that it is a phloem, which makes everything happen. It is a phloem, what makes cambium to grow. But - to make this hypothesis popular - or common knowledge - it will take decades, so there is a lot of work to do.
I fully agree with the comment of Dr. Bruce Lippke. Besides wood science, and speaking about potential FUTURE uses of wood as a renewable material, NEW ENGINEERED WOOD products like CLT etc. are going to be the ‘concrete’ of the 21st century really. Therefore, the unique biomaterial, wood, ‘is to be formulated’ into structural panels with exceptional strength, dimensional stability and rigidity.
Coupling such structural wood-products with the sustainability imperatives, most of the architects, engineers and technologists will slowly start to solve age-old problems such as low durability – stability and of course fire-safety; making thus wood as a truly viable alternative to carbon intensive materials like concrete, aluminium and steel.
The age of WOOD is coming up in the planet, at the end of this 21st century...
Of course, colleague Rupert Wimmer is right: the wood-plastic composites as compared to the conventional wood-based panels like particle boards, OSB etc., are NOT really "greener"...
Even with todays low price on fossil fuels, we make EWP I-joists for floors to displace steel joists displacing 5 tons of emissions for every ton in the wood used. But when we make ethanol to replace jet fuel we only displace .4 tons of emissions for every ton in the wood used. Our carbon policies are total failures with the level of emissions still accelerating after 20 years of global efforts to reduce emissions. If we want a liveable world we need to drive out fossil emissions. Put a $30 tax on emissions like British Columbia would raise the cost gap for using steel I-joists by $500/ton of C in the wood but only $40 for making jet fuel.
The potential to greaty increase the the value of using wood and motivating the higher valued uses of composites made from low valued residuals is lost in our counterproductive policies. Taxing emissions will drive them down, and motivate greater use of carbon negative technologies like using wood where it can drive out the most emissions. Yes it is the cell structure that makes wood so good for making products that can displace fossil intensive products. The real future is to get the policies right and stop subsidizing the least efficient uses of wood to displace carbon.
Dear Colleagues, this year we published two articles focused on: 1) regioselective coating of bamboo's vascular bundles with potential anti-fungal Ag-NPs; 2) bamboo-based microfluidic reactor for organic flow reaction.
Bamboo, as polyfunctional material, is gaining more and more attention due to its strength and light weight, fast renewability and biodegradability.Economically sustainable for its abundance and low cost biomass source, bamboo can be employed for different technology applications due to its complex hierarchical structure with highly oriented crystalline cellulose, which determines an outstanding anisotropic material with distinctive electric and mechanical properties. Its anatomical structure template, based on microarray vessel bundles lined-up side by side, pave the way to new interesting Lab-on-chip (LOC) for novel miniaturized platform related to microfluidic flow reactor(µFR), micro-total analysis system (µTAS) and electrochemical lignocellulose-based analytical devices (eLCADs).
I know, that bamboo, is considered a giant grass (graminacea), but I would ask all of you, as wood-scientists, what do you think about the possibility to consider the entry of new "bamboo-science" for the 21 century.
Article Fabrication of Lignocellulose-Based Microreactors: Copper-Fu...
Article A regioselective coating onto microarray channels of bamboo ...
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2016/ra/c6ra12516f#!divAbstract
Binderless board may be one of the hot topics in wood science. Examples are shown in the 2 articles mentioned below, and the related research. Happy new year.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256196955_Advanced_binderless_board-like_green_nanocomposites_from_undebarked_cotton_stalks_and_mechanism_of_self-bonding?_sg=aKePE-1SX_JUXlnRtYEfixk_H_x1Jm0BVdJ-bOsT3akrgg0Z2ORcNuZjXPpDR1KAtj0Yyj2bW-mKRl3Qn7I64OD-YX37kI1rHOH9St80.G7ch-DQ8LEbThopcYnuDVEugj056I2LPZ-u-WDzRAItltyIPuCrRPN0No7poKALYQF0Yv3EEaSVmWHz61NiB7A
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240749597_Binderless_Lignocellulose_Composite_from_Bagasse_and_Mechanism_of_Self-Bonding?_sg=8zIYc6tsGpPpNG86f3SW_q5S3C7DQ_VfrfkADqComAz-0mTUWO-4ZGAqdCQD9vNwXHqHiKnxPdqpx030UiksFsJrMUIGxnNLZwXtivth.0P5sPdriED2ZxeeUi1FKdborF5E7fzaAFESaFkeIaNxMLMTJa-dwt2hL9fhO5lTsEOPkQXNSIbn9NNs8jDnn4A
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323178050_Related_References_to_Binderless_lignocellulose_composite_from_bagasse_and_mechanism_of_self-bonding?_sg=Z7vKlyi4UDJnciPL-3HUCCQfOGAPivlTGFoXWnlhuNnq5S1nCgTBQkdxQQ7Wy1915NmqyHumVVyHiztaMRlK-lM9M-DS56J1xOy4mD-6.o4Cgx_I46sX-ArXmsbm22fEtgEiAO-Mpj4mFsBbxpxrE6u4mJc-wlrP8XRHO4HaQd13VzWtJ0UKrk-2kSY9E8A
Cheaper, stronger, environmentally safer, more user friendly wood products will be the aim of most of the scientific researchers.
I think its future depends on the research and developments and how much these investigations are successful in order to commercialize these products, so you can take a look at the funding that has been assigned for this topic by various organizations and universities
Molecular engineering of wood cell wall will contribute in developing novel wood products , It has also potential to increase wood product life.
Use of Wood extractives of tropical wood can play vital role in this regard.
Alternatives for polythene from products of wood origin wil be very useful
I believe construction methods and means by wood will face a dramatic change in the next few years, because we are observing huge amount of studies and investment in this sector especially Cross Laminated Timber.
WOOD MODIFICATION, WOOD ANATOMICAL STUDIES OF CORRELATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT WOOD PROPERTIES SO AS TO GET THE IDEA FOR BEETER END UTILIZATION, WOOD NANOTECHNOLOGY AND ITS ALLIED ASPECTS WHICH HELPS IN THE INCREASE OF OVERALL QUALITY OF MATERIALS TO BE USED FOR DESIRED PURPOSE.
Add eco-friendly and biodegradable as prefix whatever you make the product from wood or doing something in wood science. Demand of new era to save our mother earth
I think investigation into wood formation on multilevel and the functional wood anatomy on multiscale need more attention.
I think, in the next five years several hot topics in wood science retained as:
- Green synthesis of cellulose nanofiber (Nanocellulose modification, applications), lignocellulose nanofiber using DES / IL.
- Transparent wood for future applications using green fabrication methods (using self-reinforcing, self-densification, quantum dots, and more). Producing higher thickness transparent wood, hydrophobic, and design applications of transparent wood.
- Wood - biobased packaging and so on.
Since wood science is a biobased material and before micro and nano parameters were studied not so intense, I think with the new industrial revolution pursued by the EU, wood will be a hot topic to study, but there is not so much scientists who has holistic approach and vision))) I think BOKU has great potential here.
I would guess that chemical interactions between wood and other building materials
Cell wall matrix, used of natural biocides for wood modification using nanotechnology to enhance durability and contribute to safe environment
Biomaterials are the result of the development of wood science over a century.
Today, wood science is applied in various fields. This knowledge develops and produces various outputs not only on the increase of wood knowledge, but the production of new products as a result of innovation. Wood anatomy will remain a basic knowledge that needs to be mastered before learning other biomaterials.
I agree with Prof. Richter.
30 years ago, when I started my education, we had many departments named "wood and paper science and technology". Now, when we review education in wood sciences in the world, we face a Recession trend.
Most of wood departments merged with another field, under another name.
No offense, but I think this is the wood scientist's fault. They are breaking the old shell slowly, but we have to believe the rapid development in other fields and should match with new requirements. I think lack of other knowledge and less overlapping with other fields are general problem in most of wood departments.
So, more attention to wood-based technology with novel approaches and new applications is required.
Thank you prof. Rupert for this critical question.
Increasing quality and natural durability of wood using biotechnology, specially in low grade wood species in countries of poor forest resources.
I believe that changes in forestry policy, extreme weather factors, the health status of forests and plantations and, last but not least, the transformation of supply chains (wars) significantly affect the supply of raw materials in terms of both quantity and quality (new species of wood can also enter the wood industry). The modeling and extrapolation of these processes can be of critical importance. Very specific research goals can be: - material-saving product solutions, - increasing the lifespan of products without biocides. Unfortunately, the name "wood" is being replaced by more and more institutes. There can be various reasons for this... charismatic and committed "wooden" leaders can do something about it. The key may be that wood scientists try to integrate other fields into themselves, and not the other way around....
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