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Nano-, meso- and macro-swelling characterization of impregnated compression wood cell walls

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Abstract

Wood cell walls when contacted with humid atmosphere or an aqueous solution containing electrolytes or polymers undergo the phenomenon of swelling. In this work, experimental data were produced to quantify the effects of the adsorption water and solutes, which were introduced in the material by equilibration with a solution used as osmotic reservoir. For this reason, different environmental setups have been developed, allowing the control of temperature, water chemical potential, and ionic strength during the sorption process. The aim of this paper is to describe three experimental setups, focused on different levels: at the nanometric scale, small-angle scattering at controlled humidity; at the mesoscopic scale, environmental scanning electron microscopy; and at the macroscopic scale, tensile stage involving immersion of samples in solutions. Applicability and efficiency of the three setups are described. Moreover, it was shown how the combination of the results obtained via the three methodologies can be compared to expectations from a general Equation of State (EOS approach), where wood swelling with water and salt solutions is presented as the dependence of the distance between adjacent cellulose fibrils on the osmotic pressure. The total pressure calculated takes into account chemical, colloidal and mechanical terms in the force balance of the wood cell wall.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Klaus Bienert and Marco Bott, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, for technical support and development of the in situ mechanical testing devices, Stefan Siegel and Chenghao Li for their support during the X-ray measurements at the μ-spot beam line (BESSY II, Helmholtz–Zentrum für Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany). The excellence laboratory LABEX “Chemisyst” ANR 2011-05 is acknowledged for the French–German Ph.D. Stipendium. TZ acknowledges the Humboldt foundation for support. The financial support by DFG through Leibniz Award to PF is also acknowledged. This work was fully undertaken within the scope of the French–German agreement L.I.A. RECYCLING between CNRS/INC and MPG/MPIKG. The authors thank Helmuth Möhwald for numerous helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Research Campus Golm, 14424, Potsdam, Germany

    A. Barbetta & L. Bertinetti

  2. Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule, UMR5257, CEA/CNRS/UM/ENSCM, 30207, Bagnols-Sur-Cèze, France

    A. Barbetta, J. Lautru, R. Podor & T. Zemb

  3. LIA « RECYCLING » CNRS-MPIKG, 30207, Bagnols-Sur-Cèze, France

    A. Barbetta, L. Bertinetti & T. Zemb

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  1. A. Barbetta
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Correspondence to R. Podor.

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Barbetta, A., Bertinetti, L., Lautru, J. et al. Nano-, meso- and macro-swelling characterization of impregnated compression wood cell walls. Wood Sci Technol 52, 421–443 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-017-0978-6

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