RATIONALE Isotope analysis of wood is an important tool in dendrochronology and ecophysiology. Prior to mass spectrometry analysis, wood must be homogenized, and a convenient method involves a ball mill capable of milling samples directly in sample tubes. However, sample-tube plastic can contaminate wood during milling, which could lead to biological misinterpretations. METHODS We tested poss...

This paper describes a new method, called theCT-direction method, in which the fiber directions in woodin three-dimensional space are calculated from the pixelinformation on a series of two-dimensional computed to-mography images. Local fiber directions are calculated fromthe principal directions of inertia of measurement spheresdistributed throughout the body of the woo...

Wood is the major source of fiber supply. Non-wood fibers are mainly used in papermaking where there is a lack of forest resource such as in China and India. Cornstalk, among the agricultural residues and other non-wood fiber, is the most promising source of fiber. However, The usage of cornstalks is very limited in pulp and paper industry, although nearly 284 million tons/year are available wo...

in this research the utilization of acacia wood (acacia salicina) in medium density fiber board production was investigated. sample boards were made from acacia fibers at two resin contents (10, 12%), two press temperatures (175, 185 ˚c) and three press times(3, 4, 5 min). the results were analyzed based on a complete randomized design (crd) under a factorial experiment. results revealed that i...

Solar cell substrates require high optical transparency but also prefer high optical haze to increase the light scattering and consequently the absorption in the active materials. Unfortunately, there is a trade-off between these optical properties, which is exemplified by common transparent paper substrates exhibiting a transparency of about 90% yet a low optical haze (<20%). In this work, we ...

Quantitative and qualitative wood features are presented and analyzed for seven species of subfamily Rivinoideae and four of subfamily Phytolaccoideae. All species have nonbordered perforations plates, as elsewhere in suborder Phylocaccineae. Libriform fibers characterize both subfamilies, but vasicentric tracheids occur in two rivinoid species. Axial parenchyma is vasicentric scanty (apotrache...

In this study, the impact factors of temperature, relative humidity (RH), air exchange rate, and volatile organic compound (VOC) properties on the VOC (toluene, n-butyl acetate, ethylbenzene, and m,p-xylene) specific emission rates (SERs) and concentrations from wooden flooring were investigated by chamber test for 8 days. The tested wood in this study is not common solid wood, but composite wo...

Sustainable and inexpensive production of biomass is necessary to make biofuel production feasible, but represents a challenge. Five short rotation coppice willow cultivars, selected for high biomass yield, were cultivated on sites at four diverse regions of Quebec in contrasting environments. Wood composition and anatomical traits were characterized. Tree height and stem diameter were measured...

The ultimate properties of a fibrous composite system depend highly on the transverse mechanical properties of the fibers. Here, we report the size dependency of transverse elastic modulus in cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). In addition, the mechanical properties of CNCs prepared from wood and cotton resources were investigated. Nanoindentation in an atomic force microscope (AFM) was used in comb...