The Future of Wood and Biofiber: How Wood as a Biomaterial Contributes to a Sustainable World

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会议名称:2013世界木材日研讨会(2013 World Wood Day Symposium)
会议时间:2013年3月19-20日
会议地点:Karimjee Hall, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
报 告 人:Barry Goodell
     Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA

Abstract
Wood is an amazingmaterial. We already know much about its properties and its versatility for usein many applications. In reality however, we have just have seen the “tip ofthe iceberg” with regard to the many ways wood will be used in the future. Woodis used in many functional and artistic ways as a solid product. These useswill continue to expand as creative minds find new ways to transform solid woodinto useful and visually esthetic products. The use of wood will alsoexpand as we find new ways to convert wood strands and fiber into composites,produced solely from wood and adhesive or by bonding wood to other materials. Many advanced products, such as the floor ofthe Corvette sports car are made from advanced wood hybrid composites becauseof the unique properties that wood imparts when combined with other materials. Today,as we learn more about the nano-scale properties of cellulose and lignin, it isopening up our thinking to new ways that we can use wood for a variety offuture products. On otherfronts, wood and other lignocellulosic materials have always been used as asource of energy - stored energy from the sun - released when we burn solidwood. Today though, we can also think of wood as a source of liquid fuels.Conversion of wood by bacteria, fungi and algae to a variety of fuels will helpus to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Similarly, bioconversion processesare being developed to convert the lignin residues from biomass into usefulchemicals and feedstocks for a variety of biopolymer plastics and adhesives.Science is continually revealing new and exciting things about wood. Newadvances include knowledge about the mechanisms that fungi, bacteria, insectsand even marine borers use to transform and degrade wood, through to thediscovery of new structures within the wood cell that never before have beenvisualized. Scientists have even begun to unravel the ancient mystery of woodwas used to produce Damascus steel, a secret lost for centuries and only nowbeing re-discovered with new findings of how the wood was reformed into carbonnanotubes within the steel! This talk will discuss some of these findings.Although wood has many uses, and more are being discovered every day, we mustcontinue to understand and appreciate the role that wood and its precursormaterials have played over the millennia in carbon sequestration and carboncycling. Exploring these new uses for wood in solid products, hybridcomposites, chemical feedstocks, and energy sources are the key to helping theworld move closer to becoming a more carbon-neutral and sustainable planet.

Speaker Profile
Dr. Barry Goodell has over 29 years ofexperience in the fields of sustainable biomaterials and wood science andengineering, including work in bioconversion and bioenergy, structuralbiocomposites, and sustainable nanomaterials fields. He holds a Doctorate fromOregon State University was previously a Professor at the University of Mainein the USA. He also previously served as the Head of the Department ofSustainable Biomaterials Department, which was restructured with that nameunder Dr. Goodell's leadership. He currently serves as a Professor in thedepartment at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VirginiaTech). Dr. Goodell has published over one hundred refereed articles on variousaspects of wood science and sustainable biomaterials. His primary focuscontinues to be on wood and biomaterials degradation and protection. He alsoconducts research and teaches on the biochemical mechanisms related to freeradical bioconversion processes in lignocellulosic processing. A third area of Dr. Goodell’s interests focuses on engineered wood composites as related tofiber-reinforced-polymers and polymer-matrix-composites, and the development of novel products including advanced hybrid biocomposites, and the development ofCovetic metals through research on using biofiber to generate carbon nanotubesin steel. He has produced two co-edited textbooks on wood protection, and alsoholds four patents and two provisional patents, with other patents pending.

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