Wood Modification Technologies: Principles, Sustainability, and the Need for Innovation

The market for durable products using modified wood has increased substantially during the last few years. This is partly because of the restriction on the use of toxic preservatives due to environmental concerns, and to lower maintenance cost and time. Furthermore, as sustainability becomes a greater concern, the environmental impact of construction and interior materials is factored in planning by considering the whole life cycle and embodied energy of the materials used.

Wood is modified to improve its intrinsic properties, enhance the range of applications of timber, and to acquire the form and functionality desired by engineers without calling the environmental friendliness into question. Wood modification processes are at various stages of development, and the challenges faced in scaling up to industrial applications differ.

The aim of this book is to put together the key elements of the changes of wood constituents and the related changes in wood properties of modified wood. Further, a selection of the principal technologies implemented in wood modification are presented. This work is intended for researchers, professionals of timber construction, as well as students studying the science of materials, civil engineering and architecture. This work is not exhaustive, but intends to deliver an outline of the scientific disciplines necessary to apprehend the technologies of wood modification and its behavior during treatment, as well as during its use.

Dick Sandberg (Sweden) is Chaired Professor of Wood Science and Engineering at Luleå University of Technology. His research covers material properties, wood-scanning technology, wood machining and production systems. He has a background as manager of several companies in the wood industry sphere and has been working at the former Swedish Institute of Wood Technology Research. He is editor-in-chief of the multidisciplinary journal Wood Science and Engineering with the aim to serve at the forefront of the wood science and technology field.

Andreja Kutnar (Slovenia) is a Full Professor in the field wood science at University of Primorska, Slovenia and director of the research institute InnoRenew CoE. She received her PhD in Wood Science at the University of Ljubljana in 2008. In 2017, she was nominated as an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, USA. As July 2020 she is a President of the Society of Wood Science and Technology.

Olov Karlsson (Sweden) is an Associate Professor in Wood Science and Engineering at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. He was graduated in 1988 as PhD in organic chemistry at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and was then working for two years at FFPRI in Tsukuba in Japan. He has contributed in around 50 scientific papers in his field of expertise wood modification, binder-less boards and lignin chemistry.

Dennis Jones (Wales, UK) is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden, and previously at several institutes/universities across Europe. He has links with the Czech University of Life Sciences. A Fellow of the Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining, he has worked in wood science for over 25 years. He has managed several European projects, been Vice-chair of two COST Actions (FP0904, FP1407) and led COST FP1303 (Performance of Bio-Based Building Materials).