Recent Advances in Wood Identification, Evaluation and Modification

Dear Colleagues,

Due to its unique properties, wood remains one of the most important renewable resources to fulfil increasing demands for sustainable, carbon-storing construction materials, in addition to being a valuable material in many other applications. In civil construction, this material stands out because it has an excellent relationship between mechanical strength and density compared to other construction materials (e.g., concrete, steel). Used in other applications, wood is preferred to other materials due to its aesthetic and other properties. Wood has also inspired many researchers to use its structure as a model to create advanced bio-based materials for a variety of applications. In addition to being a renewable and sustainable source of energy and material (e.g., pulp), wood, due to its chemical composition and hierarchical structure, offers great possibilities for functionalization through various modifications in order to achieve advanced bio-based materials with specific and complex property profiles and significantly improved characteristics that further broaden its application.

The identification of new features and properties of wood, as well as the evaluation of structural modifications during treatments, are important aspects which need to be considered when working with wood. This Special Issue, “Recent Advances in Wood Identification, Evaluation and Modification”, plans to provide an overview of the most recent developments and research activities on identification of wood and new features of wood obtained using advanced research methods and presenting new approaches, manuscripts describing the evaluation of wood structure and properties, as well as those covering wood modification (thermal, chemical, combined processes, impregnation or surface modification) in order to improve some aspects of wood or to give wood new functions. We encourage authors to contribute research and review papers that address these aspects. Case studies and monitoring reports are also welcomed.

Dr. Carmen-Mihaela Popescu
Dr. Jalel Labidi
Prof. Dr. Darci Alberto Gatto
Guest Editors

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