Refined wood fibers of a 54-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) mature wood were investigated by nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of steam pressure, in the range of 2–18 bar, during thermomechanical refining was investigated and the nanomechanical properties and nanoor micro-level damages of the cell wall were evaluated. The results indicate that refining pressu...

The orthogonal design method was used to determine the optimum conditions for modifying poplar fibers through a high temperature and pressurized steam treatment for the subsequent preparation of wood fiber/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites. The extreme difference, variance, and significance analyses were performed to reveal the effect of the modification parameters on the mechanical p...

Abstract Medium-density fiberboard (MDF), a wood-based material that consists of tight random network wood fibers, deforms more than when exposed to water. For the first time, microscopic deformations MDF were tracked during swelling. A hygroscopic swelling setup imposing deform throughout tomographic acquisition was used coupled X-ray microtomography. An advanced reconstruction algorithm enabl...

Pressure treatment with chromium, copper, and arsenic (CCA) is the most prevalent method for protecting wood used in outdoor construction projects. Although these metals are tightly bound to the wood fibers and are not released under most conditions of use, we examined the bioavailability of metals in CCA pressure-treated wood dust in vitro. Cytotoxicity and metallothionein (MT) mRNA expression...

Dynamic TG analysis under nitrogen was used to investigate the thermal decomposition processes of 10 types of natural fibers commonly used in the polymer composite industry. These fibers included wood, bamboo, agricultural residue, and bast fibers. Various degradation models including the Kissinger, Friedman, FlynneWalleOzawa, and modified CoatseRedfern methods were used to determine the appare...

A thermally fusible softwood lignin was directly isolated by a solvolysis of cedar wood chips with a mixture of polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) and sulfuric acid. Its fusibility was found to be due to a PEG moiety introduced into the lignin by the solvolysis. The lignin was easily formed into fibers by melt-spinning at temperatures ranging from 145 to 172 o C without any modification. The lig...

The effects of ethylene on tension wood formation were studied in 3-year-old Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr. var. japonica Maxim. seedlings in two separate experiments. In experiment 1, ethylene evolution of buds and stems was measured using gas chromatography after 0, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 21 d of treatment; in experiment 2, both aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) and AgNO3 were applied to the horizontally-p...

ABSTRAcr Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for wood anatomy of the seven species of Cercidium (including two subspecies of C. floridum as well as the hybrid C. x sonorae) currently recognized. Data on wood of Parkinsonia are presented for purposes of comparison. Vessel walls of Cercidium show unusual sculpture: coarse excrescences termed verrucae here, crateriform pits, and groove...