Potential of wood fibers and nanoparticles in light-weight foams, 2010 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for the Forest Product Industry

Please Note: This document will be available in PDF format in the "My Electronic Documents" link on the home page once your order has been completed. Please make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Click on the Acrobat Reader icon to check for the latest version, it’s FREE. To print a hardcopy of a PDF file correctly you must have a postscript printer. If you are not sure if your printer is a postscript printer please refer to your owner’s manual.

To elucidate the potential of various wood derived biomaterials in replacement and improvement of synthetic foams, the effect of wood fibres, nanocellulose and nanoparticle lignin on solid polymer foams prepared from synthetic polymer dispersion was studied. The structure and properties of foams containing wood derived fibres and nanoparticles was determined by microscopy and mechanical testing. The type of wood fibres used as reinforcement was found to affect the mechanical properties as well as pore size distribution and porosity of the solid foam. Both nanocellulose and nanoparticle lignin modified by chemical and/or enzymatic means also contributed to the structure and properties of foam.