New Challenges in Wood and Wood-Based Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Wood and wood-based products (plywood, glued laminated timber, fiberboards, particleboards, OSB, CLT, LVL, and wood–plastic composites, among others), are attracting increasing interest in the academic domain and industry to be used as building materials, in furniture and packaging. This is due to their properties, such as environmental friendliness, sustainability, carbon sequestration ability, low-cost production, low processing energy, high strength in relation to weight, and easy processing. Beside the many advantages, wood and wood-based products need to overcome some problems; therefore, the challenge is to ensure wood is more dimensionally stable, resistant to moisture and fire, and more durable against mold and weathering. Moreover, the traditional wood-based materials are usually produced with synthetic-based adhesives, characterized by emissions of hazardous volatile organic compounds, and related to health and environmental effects. Therefore, the transition to a circular, low-carbon bioeconomy and growing environmental concerns have increased the interest in development new, sustainable, eco-friendly wood-based products, the optimization of the available lignocellulosic resources, and the use of alternative raw materials. The aim of this Topic is to update the area of wood and wood-based materials with the latest developments and research activities, including modification techniques that address the gaps in the understanding of existing ones and novel treatments and coatings, new applications for wood by adding new functionalities, challenges in the development of new wood-based products, extend the current applications of wood and wood-based products by increasing their performance and durability, and wood‒water interaction, as well as weathering and mold resistance, in interior and exterior applications. We kindly invite contributions with the latest outcomes on this topic as review papers and research articles.

Kind regards,
Dr. Carmen-Mihaela Popescu
Dr. Jalel Labidi
Dr. Simon Curling
Topic Editors