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Mechanism of microfibril contraction and anisotropic dimensional changes for cells in wood treated with aqueous NaOH solution

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Abstract

Anisotropic swelling of wood samples was observed upon treatment with an aqueous NaOH solution with 0–0.20 fraction concentrations. At NaOH concentrations less than 0.10, the swelling occurred only along the tangential axis (T) and not along the radial (R) or longitudinal (L) axes. At greater NaOH levels, the swelling was even more pronounced along T with shrinkage along the other axes. These anisotropic changes along R and L were closely related to the crystallinity of microfibrils in the wood cell wall and simulated with a cell structure model. This exercise revealed microfibril contraction and matrix swelling in the wood cell wall upon NaOH treatment. The observed anisotropy in cross section was caused by differences in the microfibril angles (LR and LT) with the cell wall.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Ishikura at the Hokkaido Forest Research Institute for agreement with use in this work for our data and Assistant Prof. Awano at Kyoto University for measuring the microfibril angle of the samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biomaterials Design, Division of Forest and Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kita-Shirakawa, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Takato Nakano

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  1. Takato Nakano
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Correspondence to Takato Nakano.

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Nakano, T. Mechanism of microfibril contraction and anisotropic dimensional changes for cells in wood treated with aqueous NaOH solution. Cellulose 17, 711–719 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-010-9414-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-010-9414-x

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