Multiscale Engineered Waste Wood Particles toward a Sustainable, Scalable, and High‐Performance Structural Material

Abstract

AbstractDeveloping sustainable and lightweight structural materials is a promising strategy for reducing carbon emissions in transportation and buildings. However, producing high‐performance bulk structural materials from sustainable biomass materials while maintaining excellent mechanical strength remains a major challenge, especially for further scale‐up. Herein, a scalable and robust bottom‐up strategy is reported to fabricate bulk wooden plate (W‐plate) with a typical “brick‐and‐mortar” structure from engineered wood particles via moderate delignification and in situ LiCl/DMAc treatment followed by hot‐pressing. The W‐plate constructed by delignified wood particles and regenerated cellulose nanofibers can achieve a confluence of mechanical strengthening and toughening by the ordered lamination structure and multiscale cellulose micro/nanofiber crosslinking interactions, resulting in high flexural strength (225.17 ± 12.18 MPa) and high fracture toughness (4.01 ± 0.53 MPa m0.5) while maintaining a low density (1.34 g cm−3), superior to typical metals and ceramics. Moreover, the W‐plate exhibits advantageous thermal properties, including a low thermal expansion coefficient (<19 × 10−6 K−1) and a high storage modulus (>7.5 GPa) compared to those of petroleum‐based polymers. Coupled with abundant and renewable raw materials, all‐cellulose components, and scalable and recyclable fabrication, the W‐plate can potentially be used as a high‐performance, cost‐effective, and environmentally friendly alternative for engineering applications.