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- Structural insulated panel foams are made primarily from petrochemicals. As a biopolymer, lignin is a promising raw material substitute for foam production. Nondestructive evaluation is routinely used for structural material strength and stiffness assessment. Herein, mechanical acoustic velocity (AV) was used to nondestructively evaluate lignin-foam blocks. Overall, foam block weight was determined, and flying time was measured for various foam thicknesses ranging from 7.26 to 8.89 cm (3.0 to 3.5 in.). Additionally, for each block, AV was measured at several different positions/locations....AuthorsSeyed Abolghasem Fatemi, Rubin Shmulsky, Zhiyong Cai, Qiangu Yan, Zach KyzerSourceForest Products JournalYear2025
- Polyurethane foam is a valuable material with applications across the automotive, packaging, construction, appliance, and furniture industries. However, traditional polyurethane foams are made from petroleumbased precursors including harmful isocyanates. Isocyanates are the leading cause of workplace asthma and are made from toxic phosgene gas, representing a challenge to green chemistry principles. To address these concerns, non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) foams replace the traditional polyurethane reaction with a safer, non-isocyanate process most often employing cyclic carbonates and...AuthorsKathryn Evancho, Richard Reiner, Biljana Bujanovic, Srikanth Pilla, James SternbergKeywordsSourceRSC AdvancesYear2025
- Transient conditions arising from sun exposure of absorptive claddings after being wetted by rain impose significant hygrothermal load on wood-frame walls. In this paper, we show that moisture conditions generated by the inward drive of water vapor increase the risk of mold growth and durability issues in susceptible components of the wall assembly. We present a comprehensive set of one-dimensional hygrothermal simulations on solar-driven moisture diffusion in wood-frame walls with brick cladding and oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing. Sensitivity analysis identifies key material...AuthorsNatalia Farkas, Samuel V. Glass, Samuel L. ZelinkaSourcepaper in proceedingsYear2025
- This study investigates the role of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in advancing sustainable forest management and influencing forest cover changes across 70 countries from 2000 to 2021. Using dynamic panel data model and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimations, the analysis addresses endogeneity concerns, such as those stemming from lagged dependent variables, providing robust and unbiased estimates. Results indicate that FSC certification significantly enhances forest cover, with the most pronounced effects observed in low- and middle-income countries. Additionally,...AuthorsInoussa Boubacar, Yaya SissokoSourceJournal of Cleaner ProductionYear2025
Comparative Evaluation of the VTT Mold Index Model and the DR SIM Model for Moisture Risk Assessment
Hygrothermal simulations are useful in forensic investigations of moisture problems and in design analysis for identifying and mitigating potential risks both in new construction and retrofit of existing buildings. Damage models, including mold growth models, are often used as a means of assessing risk; such models use simulation outputs such as temperature and relative humidity or moisture content. The Finnish mold growth model (or VTT mold index model), a pioneering model used widely by researchers and practitioners, was developed based on laboratory data for a wide range of materials,...AuthorsSamuel V. Glass, Robert Lepage, Natalia Farkas, Samuel L. ZelinkaKeywordsSourcepaper in proceedingsYear2025- Many studies that use an automated sorption balance to determine a water vapor sorption isotherm for wood collect data until the moisture content change is less than or equal to 0.002% min−1 (20 μg g−1 min−1). This stop criterion has been claimed to give errors in equilibrium moisture content (EMC) predictions of less than 0.001 g g−1 but over the past 10 years, studies have shown that the actual errors can be greater than 0.01 g g−1 because the measurements are stopped well before equilibrium is reached. Despite the large errors associated with this stop criterion, it remains popular due...AuthorsSamuel L. Zelinka, Samuel V. Glass, Natalia Farkas, Emil E. Thybring, Michael Altgen, Lauri Rautkari, Simon Curling, Jinzhen Cao, Yujiao Wang, Tina Künniger, Gustav Nyström, Christopher Hubert Dreimol, Ingo Burgert, Mark G. Roper, Darren P. Broom, Matthew Schwarzkopf, Arief Yudhanto, Mohammad Subah, Gilles Lubineau, Maria Fredriksson, Wiesław Olek, Jerzy Majka, Nanna Bjerregaard Pedersen, Daniel J. Burnett, Armando R. Garcia, Frieder Dreisbach, Louis Waguespack, Jennifer Schott, Luis G. Esteban, Alberto García‑Iruela, Thibaut Colinart, Romain Rémond, Brahim Mazian, Patrick Perré, Lukas EmmerichKeywordsSourceAdsorptionYear2025
- This paper describes ongoing research toward the development of a moisture risk index that is intended to give a quantitative indication of the risk of moisture performance issues for different wood-frame wall assemblies in different climates. The concept is like a Home Energy Rating System Index but for moisture performance of a wall assembly rather than whole house energy performance. The moisture risk index is envisioned as providing more granularity than existing pass/fail criteria or green/yellow/red risk assessments while requiring less computational effort than full probabilistic...AuthorsSamuel V. Glass, Charles R. Boardman, Natalia Farkas, Samuel L. Zelinka, Borjen Yeh, Kamal NeupaneKeywordsSourceProceedings paperYear2025
- With the development of cellulose nanofibril (CNF)-based adsorbents, the influence of particle size on adsorption capability has become increasingly recognized. In this study, endoglucanase FiberCare® was utilized to decrease fibril size of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TCNFs) without changing carboxyl groups content of the resulting TCNFs. Average fibril length decreased by 27.3% (from 508.7 nm to 369.4 nm) after enzymatic hydrolysis for 12 h and further decreased by 35.4% (to 328.2 nm) after 24 h. Meanwhile, the average fibril diameter decreased 20.2% (from 56.8±16.3 to 45.3±14.3)...AuthorsYufei Nan, Diego Gomez-Maldonado, Fatimatu Bello, Junyong Zhu, Maria Soledad. PeresinKeywordsSourceWater, Air, & Soil PollutionYear2025
- Pelletizing enhances competitiveness of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) as a fuel by increasing its bulk and energy density. However, LCB pellets are prone to degradation from moisture, have high ash, and pose safety risks due to carbon monoxide (CO) emissions during storage. Hot water extraction (HWE), a mild hydrothermal treatment particularly effective for angiosperms, removes most hemicelluloses (xylans), reduces ash, and increases lignin content in remaining HWE-LCB. Based on the current understanding of CO formation, these changes suggested that HWE could reduce CO emissions. In this...AuthorsAutumn Elniski, Biljana BujanovicKeywordsSourceFuelsYear2025
- Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) on paper have been demonstrated to be an effective barrier against oxy- gen and grease and have been shown to improve the barrier performance of dispersion-based barrier coatings. The potential to produce paper grades that have good oxygen, grease, and moisture barrier properties is clear, but a better understanding of the synergies between CNF, other coating layers, and water-based barrier coatings (WBBC) is needed to optimize these systems. Different coat weights of a commercial WBBC were applied to papers that have a range of different qualities and thicknesse...AuthorsKritee Pokharel, Douglas Bousfield, Jinwu WangSourceTAPPI JournalYear2025