Abstract
Key message
X-ray diffraction allows indirect measurement of the microfibril angle (MFA) in green and dry wood, revealing that there are statistical differences between the MFAs of these woods.
Abstract
Wood drying is essential for most wood uses; however, the removal of water from wood can lead to defects. Although it is consolidated that water removal to below the fibers saturation point causes a decrease in the distance between cellulose microfibrils, little is known about how the microfibril angle (MFA) behaves in dry wood in terms of the cell wall ultrastructure. The hypothesis investigated in this study is that with the reduced distance between cellulose microfibrils after drying, there is a simultaneous decrease in MFA. Therefore, the objective of the work was to estimate the microfibril angle of dry and green wood using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and then to compare the MFA of the wood in both conditions mentioned. The basal discs from stems of Eucalyptus grandis with age of 22 years were used to produce the samples used in the measurement of MFA by polarized light microscopy and of the T value by XRD. The mean MFA measured by polarized light microscopy was 7.0°. MFA could be estimated by T value obtained from XRD using the cubic model. The mean MFA estimated by this model was 9.0° for green wood and 7.5° for dry wood, concluding that the MFA in dry wood is slightly lower than in green wood.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
The data are available as an electronic supplementary material.
Code availability
Not applicable.
References
Barnett JR, Bonham VA (2004) Cellulose microfibril angle in the cell wall of wood fibres. Biol Rev 79:461–472. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1464793103006377
Berlyn GP, Miksche JP (1976) Botanical microtechnique and cytochemistry. Blackwell, London
Brown MR, Saxena IM, Kudlicka K (1996) Cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants. Trends Plant Sci 1:149–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1360-1385(96)80050-1
Cave ID (1966) Theory of X-ray measurement of microfibril angle in wood. For Prod J 16:37–42
Cave ID (1968) The anisotropic elasticity of the plant cell wall. Wood Sci Technol 2:268–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00350273
Donaldson L (2007) Cellulose microfibril aggregates and their size variation with cell wall type. Wood Sci Technol 41:443–460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-006-0121-6
Donaldson L (2008) Microfibril angle: measurement, variation and relationships—a review. IAWA J 29:345–386. https://doi.org/10.1163/22941932-90000192
Downes GM, Beckers EPJ, Turvey ND, Porada H (1993) Strength and structure of stems from fast grown Pinus radiata. Trees 7:131–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00199612
Gierlinger N, Luss S, Konig C, Konnerth J, Eder M, Fratzl P (2010) Cellulose microfibril orientation of Picea abies and its variability at the micron-level determined by Raman imaging. J Exp Bot 61:587–595. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erp325
Hein PRG, Brancheriau L (2011) Radial variation of microfibril angle and wood density and their relationships in 14-year-old Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake Wood. BioResources 6:3352–3362
Hill SJ, Kirby NM, Mudie ST, Hawlay AM, Ingham B, Franich RA, Newman RH (2010) Effect of drying and rewetting of wood on cellulose molecular packing. Holzforschung 64:421–427. https://doi.org/10.1515/hf.2010.065
Kollmann FFP, Côté WA (1968) Principles of wood science and technology: solid wood. Springer, New York
Leney LA (1981) A technique for measuring fibril angle using polarised light. Wood Fibre 13:13–16
Leppänen K, Bjurhager I, Peura M, Kallonen A, Suuronen JP, Penttilä P, Love J, Fagerstedt K, Serimaa R (2011) X-ray scattering and microtomography study on the structural change of never-dried silver birch, European aspen and hybrid aspen during drying. Holzforschung 65:865–873. https://doi.org/10.1515/HF.2011.108
Lima JT, Ribeiro AO, Narciso CP (2014) Microfibril angle of Eucalyptus grandis wood in relation to the cambial age. Maderas Cienc Tecnol 16:487–494. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-221x2014005000039
Lube V, Lazarescu C, Mansfield SD, Avramidis S (2016) Wood microfibril angle variation after drying. Holzforschung 70:485–488. https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2014-0334
Needham GH (1958) The practical use of the microscope. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield
Ramos LMA, Latorraca JVF, Pastro MS, Souza MT, Garcia RA, Monteiro AC (2011) Variação radial dos caracteres anatômicos da madeira de Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill Ex Maiden e idade de transição entre lenho juvenil e adulto. Sci For 39: 411–418. https://www.ipef.br/publicacoes/scientia/nr92/cap03.pdf
Rayirath P, Avramidis S, Mansfield SD (2008) The effect of wood drying on crystallinity and microfibril angle in black spruce (Picea mariana). J Wood Chem Technol 28:167–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/02773810802346950
Skaar CJ (1972) Water in Wood. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse
Souza MT, Lima JT, Soares BCD, Goulart SL, Lima LC (2017) Delimitação estatística dos lenhos juvenil e adulto em quatro espécies de Eucalyptus e Corymbia. Sci for 45:611–618. https://doi.org/10.18671/scifor.v45n116.02
Thomas LH, Forsyth VT, Martel A, Grillo I, Altaner CM, Jarvis MC (2014) Structure and spacing of cellulose microfibrils in woody cell walls of dicots. Cellulose 21:3887–3895. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-014-0431-z
Wardrop AB, Preston RD (1947) Organization of the cell walls of tracheids and wood fibres. Nature 160:911–913. https://doi.org/10.1038/160911a0
Yamamoto H, Okuyama T, Yoshida M (1993) Method of determining the mean microfibril angle of wood over a wide range by the improved Cave’s method. Mokusai Gakkaishi 39:375–381
Zanuncio AJV, Carvalho AG, Carneiro ACO, Valenzuela P, Gacitúa W, Leite FP, Colodette JL (2017) Characterization of eucalyptus clones subject to wind damage. Pesq Agrop Bras 52:969–976. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-204X2017001100002
Funding
This study was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq—Project 313189/2018-8) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). The authors thank CAPES and CNPq for the funding and support provided to this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest for this work.
Additional information
Communicated by de Micco.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Souza, N.C.M., Lima, J.T. & Soares, B.C.D. Application of X-ray diffraction to assess the microfibril angle of green and dry Eucalyptus grandis wood. Trees 36, 191–197 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02194-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02194-9