Oxidation of cellulose molecules toward delignified oxidated hot-pressed wood with improved mechanical properties

Jingwen Wang; Xiaoshuai Han; Weijie Wu; Xiaoyi Wang; Linhu Ding; Yuli Wang; Shanshan Li; Jiapeng Hu; Weisen Yang; Chunmei Zhang; Shaohua Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123343

Oxidation of cellulose molecules toward delignified oxidated hot-pressed wood with improved mechanical properties

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Mar 15:231:123343. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123343. Epub 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Jingwen Wang¹, Xiaoshuai Han², Weijie Wu³, Xiaoyi Wang¹, Linhu Ding¹, Yuli Wang¹, Shanshan Li⁴, Jiapeng Hu⁵, Weisen Yang⁶, Chunmei Zhang⁷, Shaohua Jiang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
² Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: hxs141424@163.com.
³ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: wuweijie@njfu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Pharmacy, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610000, China. Electronic address: sslscu2009@163.com.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Technology of Fujian Province University, College of Ecological and Resources Engineering, Wuyi University, Wuyishan 354300, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Technology of Fujian Province University, College of Ecological and Resources Engineering, Wuyi University, Wuyishan 354300, China. Electronic address: yangweisen@126.com.
⁷ Institute of Materials Science and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China. Electronic address: cmzhang@usts.edu.cn.
⁸ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: shaohua.jiang@njfu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36682656
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123343

Abstract

Wooden building materials have advantages in terms of biodegradability, non-toxicity, pollution-free and recycling. Currently, applications of natural wood are extremely limited because of low density, low strength and toughness. Therefore, we reported an effective modification strategy with nano-scale cellulose nanofibrils design to prepare a synergistically enhanced cellulosic material. Via three steps: i) the secondary alcohol hydroxyl groups in C₂, C₃ position were cut; ii) oxidize the hydroxyl group at C₂, C₃ position to achieve dialdehyde cellulose; and iii) oxidized again to obtain dicarboxylic cellulose. Subsequently, thanks to the regulation of the average moisture content, the moisture content in the wood surface and subsurface increased in a short time. The wood softening layer contributes to the hotpressing treatment of the wood. The mechanical properties and dimensionality have been greatly improved. The obtained delignified oxidated hot-pressed wood with 0.55 mmol/g carboxyl group content demonstrates excellent strength of 328.8 ± 7.43 MPa and Young's modulus of 8.1 ± 0.14 GPa, which is twice than that of natural wood. Delignified oxidated hot-pressed wood also shows exceptional toughness of 8.3 ± 0.28 MJ/m³. Other than that, the shore hardness indicates 0.55 mmol/g carboxylic group, which could increase the hardness at the wood surface hardness to 72.5 ± 4.29°.

Keywords: Cellulose; Oxidation treatment; Tensile strength; Toughness; Wood modification.

MeSH terms

Cellulose*
Hardness
Wood*

Substances

Cellulose