Keeping Up with the Latest Research in Wood Preservation, Diagnostics and Reuse

Dear Colleagues,

Wood is a natural, renewable material composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. It was one of the first materials used for shelter, tools, and weapons in the time of the earliest hominids. Consequently, a wide range of archaeological wood samples are excavated or retrieved each year, and they require careful preservation, stabilization, and storage or display. From a sustainability perspective, increasingly green and biocompatible restoration procedures of ancient wood objects are being developed by experts in conservation to preserve wood heritage for future generations. These practices involve the use of sustainable wood-derived products, such as lignin- and cellulose-based consolidating materials. Furthermore, today, the challenge is the extension of the life cycle of wood products and the regeneration of wood waste in recycling processes. This is coupled with the need to conserve wood in heritage structures or refurbish timber within buildings of cultural significance.

This Special Issue will provide an overview of recent advances in non-invasive and non-destructive diagnostic techniques for wood; innovative and biocompatible procedures that use wood by-products for the restoration of archaeological/historical wood; new green materials for wood preservation or conservation, especially considering treatments that recycle/reuse wood waste and plant biomass; and the production of valuable wood derivatives both for cultural heritage applications and other fields.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Non-invasive and non-destructive wood diagnostic techniques;
• Wood heritage preservation;
• Green conservation products for archaeological/historical wood;
• Recycling of wood waste and plant biomass;
• New wood derivatives;
• Lignocellulosic materials for heritage restoration;
• Biocompatible nanomaterials for wood treatment;
• Antimicrobial materials for wood conservation;

Dr. Valeria Stagno
Dr. Magdalena Broda
Dr. Silvia Capuani
Dr. Morwenna Spear
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• sustainable products for wood conservation
• green preservation of wood
• non-invasive wood diagnostics
• recycling of wood waste
• wood derivatives
• circular economy
• lignocellulosic materials
• diagnostic and conservation of archaeological/historical wood