Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
A Fundamental Review
of the Relationships between
Nanotechnology and Lignocellulosic
Biomass
Theodore H. Wegner and E. Philip Jones
1.1
Introduction
At first glance, the relationship between nanotechnology and lignocellulosic biomass
may seem to be unconnected or at best tenuously connected. It is important to recognize
that, at a fundamental level, lignocellulosic biomass is made up of nanometer-size con-
stitutive building block units that provide valuable properties to wood and other types
of renewable lignocellulosic and cellulosic biomaterials. Other composite biomaterials,
such as bone, teeth, and seashells, have been found to owe their high strength and
optical properties to the nanometer dimensions of their building blocks (Sarikaya
et al
.
2003). Similarly, the nanometer dimensions of the cellulose, lignin and other compo-
nents provide the origin for the unique properties of wood and a host of wood-based
products including paper, paperboard, oriented strandboard, glulam beams, etc. (Klemm
et al
. 2005). For example, paper represents a material produced from fibers that have
been 'pulped' and refined to liberate fibrils, microfibrils/nanofibrils, and nanocrystalline
cellulose that are responsible for its inherent strength and performance (Brown
et al
.
1987). While the relative mass of the nanofibrils and nanocrystalline cellulose are small
their surface area is large and by number they represent an enormous fraction which has
significant consequences.
