Surface characterization, mechanical and abrasion resistance of nanocellulose-reinforced wood panels

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are promising particles in the production of wood fibre nanocomposites, due to their high stiffness, mechanical strength and low density. Wood fibres are the main source of cellulose, thus allowing the direct extraction of CNCs. As an attempt to improve the quality of wood fibre panels, this work performed topographical, tribological and mechanical characterization of medium density fibreboard (MDF) reinforced with CNCs at different concentrations, by substituting from 2 to 6% of the urea formaldehyde resin by acidic CNCs. The results showed no significant differences in the topographic characteristics and abrasion wear rates due to the incorporation of CNCs, although a tendency to obtain rougher panels was observed. The addition of CNCs at low proportions affected negatively the adhesion between the resin and the fibres, compromising the mechanical properties of the panels. On the other hand, some properties such as the modulus of rupture and hardness showed a tendency to recover when the amount of CNCs increased from 2 to 6%. The analysis of the microstructure of the worn samples showed more severe wear in the regions of poor adhesion between the fibres and the resin.

Brazilian Tribology: origin, status quo and future perspectives

“…Activities related to tribology and surface engineering at the Federal University of Rio Grande -FURG started in 2016 when Prof. Henara Costa moved from LTM/ UFU to FURG, culminating with the creation of the Laboratory of Surface Engineering (LabSurf) in 2019. The works span from surface engineering techniques such as surface modifications [113,280,[320][321][322][323][324][325][326][327][328][329][330][331][332] and different coating technologies [112,113,[333][334][335] to their effects on surface topography [102,103,121,326,[336][337][338], surface hardness [339][340][341], machinability [2], formability [337,342,343], corrosion [335,[344][345][346], tribological performance [13, 50-52, 113,280,320,322,333,337,347,348] and tribo...…”

“…In terms of nanotechnology, the effects of the reinforcement of wood panels with nanocellulose particles on surface topography, hardness and abrasion resistance have been investigated [336,350,351]. Niobium pentoxide nanoparticles have resulted in more refined and adherent coatings when added during the electrodeposition of Zn-Ni coatings [13].…”

A Review of Applications of Nanocellulose to Preserve and Protect Cultural Heritage Wood, Paintings, and Historical Papers

“…In this review paper, the description of different types of nanocellulose is first reported, and then several characterization methods used to analyze them. Finally, the most recent applications of these innovative nanomaterials in the artistic context have been collected; nanocellulose has proved to be useful for several purposes, such as: ancient and degraded wood consolidation, wood reinforcement coating, the consolidation of waterlogged wooden artifacts, and structural reinforcement for canvases degraded by aging [18,19,[21][22][23][24][25]. The novelty of this review, which aims to offer an interesting overview about the use of nanocellulose for the recovery and conservation of cultural heritage, lies in having collected the latest applications of this bio-nanomaterial for the treatment of several artworks in a single paper.…”