Engineers strengthen wood with ecological nano-ferments

By infusing red oak with ferrihydrite using a simple low -cost process, researchers have strengthened wood at the cellular level without adding weight or modifying flexibility – offering a lasting and environmentally friendly alternative to steel and concrete. Treaty wood retains its natural behavior but gains internal sustainability, opening the way for greener alternatives in construction, furniture and floor coverings.

Scientists and engineers develop high performance materials from environmentally friendly sources such as plant waste. A key component, lignocellulose – has died in wood and many plants – can be easily collected and chemically modified to improve its properties.

Using these types of chemical changes, researchers create advanced materials and new ways to design and build in a lasting way. With around 181.5 billion tonnes of wood produced worldwide, it is one of the largest sources of renewable materials.

Researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science of Florida Atlantic University, and collaborators from the National Laboratory of the University of Miami and Oak Ridge, wanted to know if the addition of extremely difficult minerals on a nanometric scale could make the walls of wooden cells – without making wood heavy, dear or bad for the environment. Few studies have studied how treated wood works on different scales, and none has successfully strengthened pieces of wood by incorporating inorganic minerals directly into cell walls.

The research team focused on a special type of hardwood known as the Ring wood, which comes from wide -leaf trees such as oak, maple, cherry and nuts. These trees have large ring -shaped ships in the wood which transport the water from roots to leaves.

For the study, the researchers used red oak, a common hardwood in North America and introduced an iron compound in the wood by a simple chemical reaction. By mixing ferric nitrate with potassium hydroxide, they created ferrihydrite, an iron oxide mineral commonly found in the soil and water.

Study results, published in the journal APS materials and interfacesrevealed that a simple and profitable chemical method using a safe mineral called nanocristalline iron oxyhydroxide can strengthen tiny cell walls in wood while adding only a small amount of additional weight.

Although the internal structure has become more durable, the overall behavior of wood – as it folds or breaks – has been largely unchanged. This is probably due to the fact that processing has weakened the connections between individual wood cells, affecting the way the material holds together on a larger scale.

The results suggest that with the right chemical treatment, it is possible to improve wood strength and other plant -based materials without increasing their weight or harming the environment. These organic materials could one day replace traditional building materials such as steel and concrete in applications such as high buildings, bridges, furniture and floor coverings.

“Wood, like many natural materials, has a complex structure with different layers and characteristics at different scales. To really understand how the wood carries the charges and ends up failing it, it is essential to examine it through these different levels,” said Vivian Merk, Ph.D., main author and assistant professor in the Ocean and Ocean department and mechanical genius, the Biomedical Fau, and the Department of Faux chemistry and Fa in the biomedical membership service, and the Fa Faire Department of Fireplace and bicochet in the breast of the biomedical bee, and the Fau Department of fireplace and Bicococheminer in the breast of the Biomedical Bee, and the Faup Department of Fireplace and bicocheminate in the E. Schmidt College of Science.

“To test our hypothesis – which add tiny mineral crystals to cell walls would strengthen them – we have used several types of mechanical tests on the nanometric scale and on a macroscopic scale.”

For the study, the researchers used advanced tools such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine wood on a very small scale, which allows them to measure properties such as rigidity and elasticity. More specifically, they used a technique called AM -FM (amplitude modulation – frequency modulation), which vibrates the AFM tip with two different frequencies. A frequency generates detailed surface images, while the other measures the elasticity and adhesion of the material. This method gave them a precise view of how the cell walls of the wood were modified after being treated with minerals.

In addition, the team carried out nanoindentation tests in an electron scanning microscope (SEM), where tiny probes were pressed in the wood to measure their response to force in different areas. To complete their analysis, they carried out standard mechanical tests – such as folding both unrealities and treated wood samples – to assess their global resistance and how they broke up under stress.

“Looking at wood at different levels – microscopic structures inside cell walls to the full piece of wood – we were able to know more about how to chemically improve natural materials for real use,” said Merk.

This combination of small and large -scale tests helped researchers understand how treatment affected both the fine details inside cell walls and the overall force of wood.

“This research marks important progress in the science of sustainable materials and a significant stride towards environmental construction and design,” said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“By strengthening natural wood through methods concerned with the environment and profitable methods, our researchers set the foundations for a new generation of bio-blocked materials that have the potential to replace traditional materials such as steel and concrete in structural applications.

“The impact of this work goes far beyond the engineering field – it contributes to global efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions, reducing waste and adopting sustainable solutions and inspired by nature for everything, from buildings to large -scale infrastructure.”