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A close-up view of the wood cell wall ultrastructure and its mechanics at different cutting angles by atomic force microscopy

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Abstract

Main conclusion

AFM measurements on spruce sample cross-sections reveal that the structural appearance of the S2 layer changes from a network structure to a concentric lamellar texture depending on the cutting angle.

The structural assembly of wood constituents within the secondary cell wall has been subject of numerous studies over the last decades, which has resulted in contradicting models on the spatial arrangement and orientation of the wood macromolecules. Here, we use multichannel atomic force microscopy by means of quantitative imaging, to gain new insights into the macromolecular assembly. Cross-sections of spruce wood, which had been cut at different angles ranging from 0° to 30° were investigated. Strikingly, depending on the cutting angle, the structural appearance of the S2 layer changed from a network-like structure to a distinct concentric lamellar texture. This makes us conclude that the often visualized lamellar organization of the secondary cell wall is not the consequence of a continuous inherent ring pattern, but rather a result of the specific surface cross-section appearance of cellulose aggregates at larger cutting angles. By analyzing the recorded force distance curves in every pixel, a nano-mechanical characterization of the secondary cell wall was conducted. Substantially lower indentation modulus values were obtained compared to nanoindentation values reported in the literature. This is potentially due to a smaller interaction volume of the probe with a by far less deep indentation.

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Abbreviations

AFM:

Atomic force microscopy

CML:

Compound middle lamella

SNOM:

Scanning near-field microscopy

TEM:

Transmission electron microscopy

MFA:

Microfibril angle

NI:

Nanoindentation

QI™:

Quantitative imaging

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Thomas Schnider for cutting the wood samples. Valuable discussion with John Berg is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wood Materials Science, Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zürich, Stefano-Franscini-Platz 3, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Kirstin Casdorff, Tobias Keplinger, Markus Rüggeberg & Ingo Burgert

  2. Applied Wood Materials, Empa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Kirstin Casdorff, Tobias Keplinger, Markus Rüggeberg & Ingo Burgert

Authors
  1. Kirstin Casdorff
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  4. Ingo Burgert
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Correspondence to Kirstin Casdorff.

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Casdorff, K., Keplinger, T., Rüggeberg, M. et al. A close-up view of the wood cell wall ultrastructure and its mechanics at different cutting angles by atomic force microscopy. Planta 247, 1123–1132 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-018-2850-9

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