The upcoming issue of Carbohydrate Polymers will publish an article about the research done at University of Parma (Italy) titled Bio-inspired Consolidants Derived from Crystalline Nanocellulose for Decayed Wood. The article has supplied the following corresponding scientific abstract published by Science Direct on Aug. 31, 2018:

Novel (and potentially valuable) bio-inspired materials can be derived from crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) that have been tested as wood consolidants. The scientific abstract of the research done reported that a suspension of CNC was produced using acid hydrolysis of cellulose and used as such OR mixed iwth lignin AND/OR siloxane derivatives (PDMS). The results from each process were applied on samples of rotted wood all sourced from Norway spruce.

At this point the team ran X-Ray diffraction analysis on CNC powder. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement indicated a nearly uniform particle size distribution with an average hydrodynamic diameter for pure CNC smaller than that in the mixtures. Raman and FTIR spectroscopies suggested interactions between lignin, PDMS and CNC components.

The storage modulus of wood samples, measured by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis on the same specimen before and after consolidation, confirmed the efficiency of pure CNC, which displayed a considerable improvement of stiffness. A substantial increase of E’ was observed particularly for most decayed classes. These results suggest a closer interaction between nanocellulose and decayed wood.

• New CNC-based consolidants for decayed wood have been prepared.
• The consolidant efficiency of CNC has been confirmed on old, rotted wood.
• On the highest decayed wood classes, the CNC treatments actually show the best performance.