Manipulation of the hierarchical wood structure for extended carbon storage in the built environment

IRG/WP 23-50381

T Singh, A Arpanaei, D Elustondo, Q Fu

The sustainable processing of trees into construction materials can act as carbon storage. Carbon storage in durable sustainable wooden construction material has cumulative effects and net gain in storage in the built environment that can be offset by net losses in forest carbon by cutting the tree. Carbon storage for an extended period plays an important role in the mitigation of CO2 emissions and consequently retarding global warming. Harvested wood products greatly influence the carbon cycle of the forests depending on the end uses. Wood is a highly porous material with hierarchical cell wall structure that provides water transpiration and mechanical support functions. In the harvested timber, this porous wood template provides an appealing nanostructured architecture for the development of sustainable functional materials, which can be achieved by modification of cell wall and lumen nanostructure with various chemical or physical strategies, such as impregnation of polymers or inorganics, surface acetylation, densification and carbonization. Natural wood is usually subjected to crack, decade, aging, and dimensional instability, which leads to reduced service time resulting in returning carbon to the atmosphere. In recent years, many efforts have been dedicated to exploring functional wood materials for the extension of service life and carbon storage. In this review, the developing technologies of engineered wood products, such as wood densification, chemical modification, and mineralization of wood are summarized with the capability of extension of wood carbon storage. New wood nanotechnologies are highlighted on the achievements in wood structural design and engineering for the extension of carbon storage and replacement of fossil-based products.


Keywords: carbon cycle, engineered wood products, functional materials, global warming, wood nanotechnology

Conference: 23-05-28/06-01 Cairns, Australia


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