Hornification and Fiber Properties

The research topic is hornification of lignocellulosic materials, knowledge about which is highly relevant for production, recycling and resource efficiency for all paper and board materials, as well as new applications for forest-based raw materials.

MYCOSITE-MYCelium based compOSITE, towards a truly sustainable biomaterial 

Mycelium-based biocomposites are an emerging category of materials exploiting the abundance of lignocellulosic waste generated yearly, such as wood by-products, waste fibers or residual stems/husks, and the natural growth of a living fungal organism. Fungi bring strength and cohesion to amorphous materials by producing microscopic filaments (called hyphae) that form the mycelium and lignocellulosic biomass […]

MYWOOD-MYcelium as tool for the valorization of WOOD by-products, from materials to enzymes 

Forestry biomass, the most abundant renewable resource on Earth, is an untapped source of energy and material. Biorefinery practices are still inefficiencies, leading to waste and reduced sustainability. This project proposes an integrated biorefinery approach, leveraging advanced fungal biotechnology to repurpose underutilized forestry biomass into innovative biobased materials and enzymes, while exploring the further biorefinery […]

POR-BioSorb: PORous Bio-based and high-functional sorbent alternatives

POR-BioSorb, a collaboration of European Universities, SMEs, and Research Institutes, aims to introduce the use of bio-based, energy-saving and climate-friendly porous materials with high absorption capacity. By using low-cost polymers from various biomass sources and advanced green production technologies developed in the consortium, this project will develop environmentally friendly alternatives to current materials that are […]

Dynamic Compression/Tension for Cellulose Treatment

This project aims to develop novel experimental techniques for generating rapid compression and expansion waves in liquids and explore using compression and tension pulses to disintegrate, homogenize, and fibrillate cellulose fibers efficiently to contribute to the more sustainable production of novel nano- and micro-cellulose materials.

A new XRF analysis develops high yield pulp with even sulfonate distribution at fiber level for improved renewable packaging

This project addresses the main challenges of using environmentally friendly, renewable packaging materials due to the widespread use of plastic in the packaging industry. This interdisciplinary project aims to address the uneven distribution of fiber sulfonation and softening in wood chips, which is currently poorly understood at a micro-level. After impregnation, the distribution of sulfonation […]

Microfiber

This project has addressed the major bottlenecks in using environmentally friendly, renewable packaging materials as plastic dominates the packaging industry. This interdisciplinary project aims to fundamentally resolve the degree of roughness, i.e. the amount of fiber sulfonation and softening prior to defibration, which is unknown at the micro level. Typically, the distribution of sulfonation in […]

The bio-feedstock of tomorrow for controlled and reversible chemical modification on the macro and microfiber level 

Itaconic acid, a di-carboxylic acid produced from citric acid or fermentation of sugars, is predicted to become a valuable bio-based chemical for the future, making it interesting for applications in cellulose based functional materials. This project will investigate the tailored modification of Bleached Kraft Pulp (BKP) with itaconic derivatives. Since the reactivity to a large […]

Methodologies providing new insights into the fundamentals of the pulping process

Today’s knowledge of what happens concerning the kinetics and other phenomena in the digester during the pulping process is mainly the result of the use of inductive methods. Based on these methods, generalised models have been formulated that are applied for process development as well as for industrial process optimisation.  Recent studies (e.g., Mattsson et […]

Xylem development and wood formation

The project focuses on lignification and cell death of xylem elements and how these processes influence the chemical and physical properties of the secondary cell walls and woody tissues of vascular plants. We use two model systems. The roots and hypocotyls of Arabidopsis thaliana provide excellent models for understanding the molecular and genetic control of […]

Resource-efficient and non-toxic material flows from wood waste

With increasing focus on recycling, wood waste can increase its potential to generate secondary raw materials instead of incineration and landfilling. The quality of wood waste, as determined by the presence of material and mainly chemical impurities, is essential to ensure a high quality, clean and safe recycling loop for particleboards or for other emerging […]

NeoPulp – New perspective to the development of pulp fibre properties

Heterogeneity is one of the fundamental scientific and technological challenges of all bio-based materials. The research area of NeoPulp is pulping and papermaking processes. We plan to study the heterogeneity between fibres that affects both process performance and the properties of current and new fibre-based materials. This is a largely unexplored research area where the […]