Abstract
Wood represents a highly suitable biobased scaffold for the development of mechanically robust and functional materials. Its functionalizability can be enhanced by means of delignification, resulting in an increase in porosity due to partial or complete removal of lignin and hemicellulose constituents. In this work, the impact of partial and complete delignification on the mesoporous structure is investigated via water vapor sorption isotherms and deuterium exchange. Pore size distributions of wood samples with five different delignification levels were compared to native wood. The derived pore size distributions at the water swollen state reveal an increase in porosity with decreasing lignin content. However, after complete lignin removal, drying causes a nonreversible collapse of the cell wall, which results in reduced porosity.
Highlights
Delignification of wood is a common industrial process, which was recently re-suggested for innovative wood-based material developments.[1−9] Hereby, the wood inherent cellulose scaffold is maintained, while part of the matrix components such as lignin and hemicelluloses are removed
Its functionalizability can be enhanced by means of delignification, resulting in an increase in porosity due to partial or complete removal of lignin and hemicellulose constituents
Stepwise delignification of the wood cell wall highly affected its structure in terms of porosity
Summary
Delignification of wood is a common industrial process, which was recently re-suggested for innovative wood-based material developments.[1−9] Hereby, the wood inherent cellulose scaffold is maintained, while part of the matrix components such as lignin and hemicelluloses are removed These scaffolds can be functionalized[10,11] or infiltrated with various matrix systems[12−14] in both, dry and wet state. The characterization of pores by gas adsorption is very specific to the adsorbate molecule (e.g., its size, polarity), and its interaction with the adsorbent’s surface Derived values such as specific surface area or porosity need to be interpreted
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