Particulate matter emissions (PM10) from open-air burning of dry leaves were sampled and analysed for a series of organic and inorganic species, including carbon fractions, anhydrosugars, humic-like substances (HULIS), water-soluble ions, metals and organic trace components. The study was performed to investigate whether open-air burning of leaves in rural areas is a potential source of high am...

Conocarpus erectus L. is a fast growing tree, drought resistant and it is widely planted throughout Saudi Arabia around parking lots and along the streets. It constitutes a renewable resource that could be used as a source of raw materials required for several uses. However, no data were available about its wood quality. This study was established to investigate the effect of plant spacing on s...

The chemical composition of lipophilic extractives from process waters throughout a totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching sequence after kraft pulping of eucalypt wood has been studied. These compounds are among the most problematic wood constituents for both TCF and zero liquid effluent (ZLE) processes, since they tend to accumulate in circuits resulting in the formation of the so-called pitch...

Decaying wood is related to nutrient cycling through its role as either a sink or source of nutrients. However, at micro scales, what is the effect of decaying logs on the physical, chemical, and biotic characteristics of the soil underneath? We took samples from a 0 to 5 cm depth under and a 50 cm distance away from decaying logs (Dacryodes excelsa and Swietenia macrophylla) at 2 stages of dec...

Wind turbine blades are easily struck by lightning, a phenomenon that has attracted more and more attention in recent years. On this subject a large current experiment was conducted on three typical blade sandwich structures to simulate the natural lightning-induced arc effects. The resulting damage to different composite materials has been compared: polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene te...

Chemical modification of hardwood sawdust from ash-tree species was carried out with a solution of maleic anhydride in acetone. Wood polymers, lignin, and cellulose were isolated from the wood sawdust and modified by the same method. Samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), providing evidence that maleic anhydride esterifies the free hydroxyl groups of the w...

Much progress has been made in the past several years concerning the biochemistry and molecular genetics of fungal wood decay. Aspects of this knowledge were obtained with the intent of using the fungi and their enzymes for selective and beneficial purposes; e.g., in biopulping and biobleaching of wood fiber, in bioremediation of pollutants, and in biomass conversions for fuel and chemical feed...

Early detection of wood decay can prolong the service life of wood. Antibodies are the ideal probe for detecting fungi that cause biodeterioration because they are highly specific and can quantitatively determine the fungal antigen concentration from highly complex structures, such as wood. Polyclonal antibodies recognize multiple chemical sites of the targeted molecule, in our case, a fungal g...

In the present work, Norway spruce wood (Picea abies L.) was reacted with a commercial Trametes versicolor laccase in the presence of potassium iodide salt or the phenolic compounds thymol and isoeugenol to impart an antimicrobial property to the wood surface. In order to assess the efficacy of the wood treatment, a leaching of the iodinated and polymerized wood and two biotests including bacte...

In this study, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), a hydrolyzable, multi-functional alkoxysilane polymer and Q9-1315, a MTMS alkoxysilane polymer diluted with methanol, were used in conjunction with acetone dehydration to conserve waterlogged wood. Three groups of wood were used as samples for study. The Group 1 samples, waterlogged tongue depressors, were treated using acetone dehydration followed ...