Treesearch

The degradation capabilities of two white rot fungi, Pleurotus ostreatus and Trametes versicolor, obtained from natural stands of Fagus orientalis (beech) in Northern Iran were studied. Fruiting bodies of P. ostreatus and T. versicolor were collected from fallen beech in the Alamdardeh forest, Iran. Beech wood samples were exposed to both fungi for 120 days according to EN113. Mass loss, resistance to compression parallel to grain, impact load resistance, as well as lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose content were determined in the samples before and after fungal exposure. FT-IR spectroscop...

Tricinwas recently discovered in lignin preparations from wheat (Triticum aestivum) straw and subsequently in all monocot samples examined. To provide proof that tricin is involved in lignification and establish the mechanism by which it incorporates into the lignin polymer, the 4′-O-β-coupling products of tricin with the monolignols (p-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl alcohols) were synthesized along with the trimer that would result from its 4′-O-β-coupling with sinapyl alcohol and then coniferyl alcohol. Tricin was also found to cross couple with monolignols to form tricin-(4′-O-β)-linke...

A new species, Phlebopus mexicanus, is described from southern tropical rainforests of Mexico based on morphological and molecular characters. Several features distinguish this species from others of Phlebopus including the medium to small basidiomata with olivaceous brown tomentose pileus that becomes finely areolate cracked with age, the dark yellow brown pruina covering most of the stipe, the pale yellow flesh of pileus and stipe that slowly turns blue when exposed, and the lack of hymenial cystidia. Phylogenetic analyses using nLSU sequences support the recognition of this new morpholog...

The synthesis of magnetic biochar composites is a major new research area in advanced materials sciences. A series of magnetic bamboo charcoal composites (MBC800, MBC1000 and MBC1200) with high saturation magnetization (Ms) was fabricated in this work by mixing bamboo charcoal powder with an aqueous ferric chloride solution and subsequently pyrolyzing under different temperatures (800, 1000 and 1200°C) in a tube furnace. All the products were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM),...

Cellulose nanofibril (CNF) and epoxy nanocomposites with high visible light transmittance and low watersensitivity were manufactured by laminating thin layers of epoxy resin onto CNF films prepared through,pressurized filtration in combination with oven drying. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studiessuggest that the resin component bonded to the CNF substrate well. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)observation reveals that the resin lamination led to smoother film surface, which helped enhance UV–vistransmittance. The addition of epoxy resin had little effect on the static and dynamic...

This paper presented construction and strain distributions for light-weight wood-fiber-based structural panels with tri-grid core made from phenolic impregnated laminated paper composites under bending. A new fastening configuration of slots in the faces and tabs on the core was applied to the face/core interfaces of the sandwich panel in addition to epoxy resin. Both normal strain gages and shear strain gages were attached on these panels to analyze inside strain distributions by third point load bending test. The purpose of the bending test was to investigate the various strain distributi...

Wood, an abundant resource throughout most of the world, has been used as a building material for thousands of years. Many historic buildings have been built primarily of wood, and masonry and stone buildings generally have wood elements, both structural and architectural. As a biological material, wood is both remarkably complex and yet quite durable if well constructed and maintained. This Practice Point provides guidance on options for extending the service life of wood used in historic structures. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with basic wood nomenclature and anatomy, so...

Highlights •The new residential and renovation construction markets in the US and the Eurozone were valued at $338.7 billion (305.5 billion euros) and $673.3 billion dollars (614.4 billion euros), respectively, in 2014. •In Europe, 55% of the value of the new residential and renovation construction markets in 2014 was in renovation; in the US, this figure was 30%. •The housing construction market in Europe is still subdued, in part due to the effects of the global financial crisis and the tepid nature of European economies. Nevertheless, residential housing construction is projected to...

New residential construction is a critical driver of the demand for lumber, structural panels and engineered wood products in Canada. For the period 2010 through 2013, residential construction accounted for roughly 23 percent of the lumber consumed in Canada and 47 percent of structural panel usage. Insufficient data concerning imports and exports prevent estimates of the residential share of engineered wood products consumption. The focus of this study is for the year 2013. Based on the data provided by Home Innovation Research Labs survey of home builders, 1.262 billion board feet (bf)...

A novel type of highly flexible and all-solid-state supercapacitor that uses cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid aerogels as electrodes and H2SO4 poly (vinyl alcohol) PVA gel as the electrolyte was developed and is reported here. These flexible solid-state supercapacitors were fabricated without any binders, current collectors, or electroactive additives. Because of the porous structure of the CNF/RGO/CNT aerogel electrodes and the excellent electrolyte absorption properties of the CNFs present in the aerogel electrodes, the resulting...