Treesearch

Resin canals produce and transport oleoresins that are important for tree defenses within the Pinaceae family. Rapid measurement techniques are needed to better understand how resin canal characteristics vary due to genetic and environmental effects. Here we describe a semi-automated microscopy imaging system that was built for quantifying longitudinal resin canals. Tree increment cores from 210 loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) trees were prepared into radial strips and the transverse surface of the samples polished with 400 and then 600 grit sandpaper. Each sample was imaged along its...

Rapid, accurate determination of wood moisture content is paramount for the wood industry, infrastructure maintenance, studies of plant physiology, and forest management. Near-IR reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is a widely used nondestructive technique for analyzing the properties of materials, including MC. Small, portable, handheld NIR spectrometers represent an emerging technology with strong potential for rapidly, affordably estimating materials properties. Here, we used a SCiOTM miniature handheld NIR spectrometer and a partial least squares regression model to predict wood MC. The...

Laser-induced graphene (LIG) has emerged as a versatile carbon material for broad applications. However, the synthesis of high-quality LIG materials, especially with low defects, remains underexplored. This study was thus focused on developing a facile and cost-effective alternative to producing low-defect LIG, especially using lignin as a renewable precursor. The results showed that lignin treated by methyl ethyl ketone yielded LIG with a markedly low-defect level (ID/IG ratio of 0.12) by direct laser writing under ambient conditions. The triboelectric tactile sensor fabricated from...

The detrimental issues surrounding the accumulation of traditional plastic waste are well known. A myriad of research has been conducted in the past few decades related to the synthesis of polymers using plant oils as starting monomers to obtain polymers from renewable sources. These polymers can be biodegradable and, therefore, can decrease further plastic waste accumulation. Although many studies have been conducted on the polymerization of soybean oil (SBO), comparatively few studies have been conducted on the polymerization of cottonseed oil (CSO). CSO is an excellent candidate for a...

Exploring food packaging films from environmentally friendly materials and their practical manufacturing routes are important research topics for academia and industry. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a bio-based plastic being used commercially but with low barrier performance for food packaging applications. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), as renewable materials, show potential use in packaging applications, attributed to their excellent oxygen barrier performance. However, pure CNC films cannot be readily produced and used because of their brittleness and water sensitivity. Creating a...

Standalone cellulose nanofibril (CNF) films have a natural tendency to shrink upon drying from wet conditions due to capillary drying stresses. This shrinkage happens in both the radial direction, and the vertical direction. In this study, we prepared two types of CNF films- one in a restrained condition that did not allow shrinkage in the radial direction but enabled it in the vertical direction and another with 11 % radial shrinkage but limited vertical shrinkage. The radial shrinkage led to a more porous structure than the vertical shrinkage, which brought about poorer oxygen/moisture...

Wild (or lowbush) blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) undergo severe drought impacts due to climate warming because they grow in sandy soils with poor water retention. The feasibility was studied for using biochar in a forest biomass-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) plant to amend the sandy soils. The chemico-physical properties (e.g., bulk density, moisture content, porosity, pH) of the biochar were measured. An acid treatment method (1% to 3% acidic or citric acid solution) was developed to decrease the biochar pH from 11.4 to neutral or lower, aiming to aid in weed control in...

Microfibrillated, nanofibrillated, and nanocrystalline cellulose materials are next-generation biobased cellulose materials with applications in the food industry as food contact materials and functional ingredients. Manufacturers have adopted a proactive approach to demonstrate the safety of these cellulose materials as they contribute toward a more sustainable economy. Animal studies and alternative testing approaches are needed to fill data gaps in the literature for the physicochemical and toxicological characterization of cellulose materials. Recently, the European Food Safety...

Antibiotics are used for the well-being of human beings and other animals. Detectable levels of antibiotics can be found in pharmaceutical, municipal, and animal effluents. Therefore, the treatment of antibiotic contaminated water is of great concern. In this study, we fabricated a sustainable aminated/TEMPO cellulose nanofiber (Am/TEMPO-CNF) aerogel to remove oxytetracycline (OTC) and chloramphenicol (CAP) from synthetic wastewater. The prepared aerogel was characterized using different analytical techniques such as elemental analysis, FTIR, TGA, SEM-EDS, and N2 adsorption–desorption...

A timber lateral force resisting system (LFRS) with timber buckling-restrained braces (TBRB) is proposed to improve the seismic performance of timber buildings. Using a similar design approach for conventional buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBF) and established design methods for timber connections, a timber buckling-restrained braced frame (TBRBF) was designed and tested under a series of quasi-static cyclic loading protocols. During the tests, the level of axial load applied to the column was varied to simulate gravity loads. Additionally, some of the tests included an out-of-plane...