Functional Wood-Foam Composites for Controlled Uptake and Release

• Wood-foam hierarchical composites were produced via the shear-forced infiltration of shear-thinning nanocellulose-based foams or gels into the tracheids of Picea abies. Shear processing viscoelastic and shear-thinning aqueous foams composed of cellulose nanocrystals, methylcellulose, and tannic acid (total solids content: 2 wt %) resulted in foam-filled wood composites containing 15-20 wt % foam, with open foam structures and compression strengths similar to those of unmodified P. abies. An amino-functionalized nanocellulose-containing foam confined in wood reversibly adsorbed CO2, retaining 15% of its theoretical uptake capacity over 50 cycles in the thermogravimetric analyzer, and a citronellol-loaded foam released this mosquito-repellent compound over four days, as evaluated using solid-phase microextraction. Shear-forced infiltration of functional foams into wood is an operationally simple route to hierarchically porous composites based on renewable materials.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Kemiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Chemical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

cellulose nanomaterials

functional wood composites

functional nanocellulose foams

shear thinning

CO2 uptake

hierarchical structure

Green & Sustainable Science & Technology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)