DTA Evaluation of Spruce Wood Degradation Process

Nanostructure of cellulose microfibrils in spruce wood.

The structure of cellulose microfibrils in wood is not known in detail, despite the abundance of cellulose in woody biomass and its importance for biology, energy, and engineering. The structure of the microfibrils of spruce wood cellulose was investigated using a range of spectroscopic methods coupled to small-angle neutron and wide-angle X-ray scattering. The scattering data were consistent w...

Occupational asthma due to spruce wood.

Workers exposed to a variety of wood dusts are known to experience work-related respiratory symptoms, including occupational asthma. There are, however, few reports of occupational asthma due to spruce wood. We present the case of a 31-year-old sawmill owner with severe asthma caused by exposure to spruce wood dust, who developed asthmatic symptoms after 2 years of working. Investigations inclu...

Thermal Degradation of Wood Components:

Creep Parameters of Spruce Wood in High Temperature Environment

The paper presents partial results of an ongoing project dealing with thermal diffusion and mechanical behavior of spruce wood in high temperature environment (up to 180°C). The objective of this part of study was to obtain rheological properties of spruce wood which will be used in future modeling of wood performance in high temperatures. Oven dry samples (30 x 30 x 700 mm) underwent constant ...

Mechanical properties of spruce wood cell walls by nanoindentation

In order to study the effects of structural variability, nanoindentation experiments were performed in Norway spruce cell walls with highly variable cellulose microfibril angle and lignin content. Contrary to hardness, which showed no statistically significant relationship with changing microfibril angle and lignin content, the elastic modulus of the secondary cell wall decreased significantly ...