Researchers at the University of British Columbia Develop New Technique to Transform Waste Wood into Material Five Times Stronger than Natural Wood.
Orlando Rojas, an expert at the University of British Columbia in Canada, along with his colleagues, has discovered a new method to recycle wood into a material that is five times stronger than natural wood and can be made from any wood byproduct, including shavings and sawdust. The new research was published in the journal Nature on May 19.
Waste wood can be recycled into new material with some properties better than natural wood. (Photo: Urose)
Wood is an extremely versatile material, yet millions of tons are discarded in landfills each year. To build a truly circular economy, wood needs to be reused on a larger scale.
Rojas’s research team invented a lignin dissolution method – a glue-like component within plant cell walls – to expose nano cellulose fibers, which are also found within plant cell walls. The new method requires a solvent called dimethylacetamide, used in combination with dimethylacetamide.
When two treated pieces of wood are combined, the nano fibers bond together to create a recycled material that the research team refers to as “healing wood”. Although it no longer resembles natural wood, the new material possesses superior mechanical properties. Tests have shown that it has better fracture resistance than stainless steel or titanium alloys.
“We observed mechanical strength surpassing that of the original materials. This is because we utilize the inherent properties of cellulose, which bonds very strongly due to hydrogen bonding,” Rojas stated.
The method developed by the University of British Columbia allows for the recycling of wood to create new objects. Furthermore, the treatment process can be repeated on the same piece of wood to extend its lifespan.
“This is a truly sophisticated way to heal wood, using a common cellulose solvent, restoring and enhancing the mechanical properties of natural materials. This method can certainly be scaled up, and the challenge is to elevate it to new heights,” commented Steve Eichhorn, an expert at the University of Bristol in the UK.
The research team has yet to assess how costly the new method would be if scaled up to an industrial level. “The processes we use are very typical in the wood processing field. Therefore, scaling up should not be an issue,” Rojas added.
