The Chemical Technology of Wood is an eight-chapter introductory text on the developments in understanding the chemistry of wood and its chemical-technological utilization. The opening chapters of this book cover the productive aspects of forests, followed by a description of the anatomy and physical properties of wood. The subsequent chapter presents a summative wood analysis concerning its cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and other extraneous components. This topic is followed by a presentation of several destructive processing of wood, including acid hydrolysis, pyrolysis, oxidation, and hydrogenolysis. The remaining chapters describe the pulp production through sulfite cooking and using alkaline reagents. This book will prove useful to chemists, engineers, biologists, foresters, and economists.

Wood-based materials are CO2-neutral, renewable, and considered to be environmentally friendly. The huge variety of wood species and wood-based composites allows a wide scope of creative and esthetic alternatives to materials with higher environmental impacts during production, use and disposal. Quality of wood is influenced by the genetic and environmental factors. One of the emerging uses of wood are building and construction applications. Modern building and construction practices would not be possible without use of wood or wood-based composites. The use of composites enables using wood of lower quality for the production of materials with engineered properties for specific target applications. Even more, the utilization of such reinforcing particles as carbon nanotubes and nanocellulose enables development of a new generation of composites with even better properties. The positive aspect of decomposability of waste wood can turn into the opposite when wood or wood-based materials are exposed to weathering, moisture oscillations, different discolorations, and degrading organisms. Protective measures are therefore unavoidable for many outdoor applications. Resistance of wood against different aging factors is always a combined effect of toxic or inhibiting ingredients on the one hand, and of structural, anatomical, or chemical ways of excluding moisture on the other.

This four volume set covers the entire spectrum of pulp and paper chemistry and technology from starting material to processes and products including market demands. This work is essential for all students of wood science and a useful reference for those working in the pulp and paper industry or on the chemistry of renewable resources. Volume 1 provides a survey of the biological and chemical structure of wood as well as an introduction to the chemical reactions used during pulp production processes. The work presents the different raw materials used for pulp production, the macroscopic and morphological construction of wood and related characterization methods, the chemical structure and arrangement of the wood polymers and extractives, biosynthesis of wood polymers, carbohydrate and lignin analysis, reactions of wood polymers in mechanical and chemical pulping and bleaching processes, biotechnical processes of relevance for the pulp and paper industry, different types of microorganisms and their modes of interaction with wood, the impact of chemical and microbiological processes on the hierarchical structure of wood and pulp.

This book is exclusively concerned with wood modification, although many of these processes are generic and can be applied to other lignocellulosic materials. There have been many rapid developments in wood modification over the past decade and, in particular, there has been considerable progress made in the commercialisation of technologies. Topics covered include: The use of timber in the 21st century Modifying the properties of wood Chemical modification of wood: Acetic Anhydride Modification and reaction with other chemicals Thermal modification of wood Surface modification Impregnation modification Commercialisation of wood modification Environmental consideration and future developments This is the first time that a book has covered all wood modification technologies in one text. Although the book covers the main research developments in wood modification, it also puts wood modification into context and additionally deals with aspects of commercialisation and environmental impact. This book is very timely, because wood modification is undergoing huge developments at the present time, driven in part by environmental concerns regarding the use of wood treated with certain preservatives. There has been considerable commercial interest shown in wood modification over the past decade, with products based upon thermal modification, and furfurylation now being actively being marketed. The next few years will see the commercialisation of acetylation and impregnation modification. This is a new industry, but one that has enormous potential. This book will prove useful to all those with an interest in wood modification including researchers, technologists and professionals working in wood science and timber engineering, wood preservation, and well as professionals in the paper and pulp industries, and those with an interest in the development of renewable materials.

"Written by engineers for engineers (with over 150 International Editorial Advisory Board members),this highly lauded resource provides up-to-the-minute information on the chemical processes, methods, practices, products, and standards in the chemical, and related, industries. "

In its broadest sense, and according to the traditional conception, wood chemistry is a comprehensive discipline, ranging from fundamental studies to practical applications. The manifold constituents, located in different morphological regions in the wood, results in an extreme complexity of wood chemistry. Ever more sophisticated endeavors needing fundamental studies and advanced analytical methods are necessary in order to delve deeper into various problems in pulping and papermaking. Gradually, new, improved ana lytical methods, originally developed for research purposes, are currently replacing many of the old "routine" methods in practical applications. Because of the expanse of the subject, an attempt to write a book of this size about analytical methods seems, perhaps, too ambitious. Of course, a whole book series of several volumes would be necessary to cover this topic completely. However, there is undoubtedly a need for a more condensed presentation which does not go into experimental details, but is limited to the basic principles of the analytical methods and illustrates their applica tions. The emphasis is on more advanced and potential methods, and partic ularly on those based on different types of spectroscopy and chromatography.

The degradable nature of high-performance, wood-based materials is an attractive advantage when considering environmental factors such as sustainability, recycling, and energy/resource conservation. The Handbook of Wood Chemistry and Wood Composites provides an excellent guide to the latest concepts and technologies in wood chemistry and bio-based composites. The book analyzes the chemical composition and physical properties of wood cellulose and its response to natural processes of degradation. It describes safe and effective chemical modifications to strengthen wood against biological, chemical, and mechanical degradation without using toxic, leachable, or corrosive chemicals. Expert researchers provide insightful analyses of the types of chemical modifications applied to polymer cell walls in wood, emphasizing the mechanisms of reaction involved and resulting changes in performance properties. These include modifications that increase water repellency, fire retardancy, and resistance to ultraviolet light, heat, moisture, mold, and other biological organisms. The text also explores modifications that increase mechanical strength, such as lumen fill, monomer polymer penetration, and plasticization. The Handbook of Wood Chemistry and Wood Composites concludes with the latest applications, such as adhesives, geotextiles, and sorbents, and future trends in the use of wood-based composites in terms of sustainable agriculture, biodegradability and recycling, and economics. Incorporating over 30 years of teaching experience, the esteemed editor of this handbook is well-attuned to educational demands as well as industry standards and research trends.