Recent Advances in Wood Modification and Wood Functionalization Research

Dear Colleagues,

Today, with the significant increase in demand for wood worldwide, which cannot be matched by the supply of sustainable wood resources, there is a growing emphasis on the ability of wood modification to enhance the lifetime of many wood products. At the same time, as a renewable raw material source, there is demand for a wide range of products obtained from softwoods and hardwoods, which have so far been produced using non-renewable raw materials. As a result, a wide range of developments in wood modification are emerging, and could lead later to a number of new market products. The aim of this Special Issue is to present a wide range of wood modification technologies, from the long forgotten (e.g., wood bending via compression along the grain) to the extremely novel (e.g., increasing hydrophobicity using nanomaterial treatment). This Special Issue will also address the functionalization of wood and other lignocellulosic materials, which is becoming increasingly vital in our modern world. The developed lignocellulosic materials may be employed in the furniture industry, construction and packaging, and as bioplastics (aeronautics, defense, transport equipment, biomedicine, etc.), among other applications. However, further research is required before the non-biodegradable products made of steel, glass, carbon and plastics that are currently utilized can be replaced, due to a lack of adequate technologies. This Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances in the field of diverse wood modification technologies and the research results that support them in order to obtain high-performance bio-based materials and composites.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Modification of solid wood;
• Biocomposites and wood-based products;
• Nanomaterials in wood and wood-based materials;
• Chemical modification processes;
• Natural fibers;
• Plasma treatment;
• Fungal mycelium treatment;
• Enzymatic treatment;
• Combined modification processes;
• Functionalization of wood or its surface;
• Weather resistant wood and wood-based materials;
• Dimensionally stable wood and wood-based materials;
• Wood and wood-based materials with improved decay resistance;
• Application of wood and wood-based products;
• Destructive and non-destructive testing of wood;
• Future perspectives for innovative approaches to wood modification;
• Currently unused modification technologies.

We look forward to receiving your valuable manuscripts. If you require any assistance with the submission process or with manuscript preparation, please do not hesitate to contact the Guest Editors or the Assistant Editor of our Special Issue.

Dr. Mátyás Báder
Dr. Miklós Bak
Prof. Dr. Róbert Németh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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