In the future bark could be used as a raw material for a bio-based wood preservative. A new collaboration between the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the Universities of Eastern Finland and Oulu is looking to make this a reality.
The aim is to develop a bark-based product suitable for industrial production, that would provide wood products used outdoors with a durable protection and to ensure that they are as safe to use as untreated wood.
“The development of the new wood preservative is based on tannins, as earlier studies have shown that they retard the growth of bacteria and fungi,” says Martti Venäläinen, Senior Research Scientist at the Finnish Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
One key factor is in improving the preservative’s bind by fixing the tannins to the wood with nanocellulose, which can form durable bonds with the tree tissue and does not leach out easily. The key goal is to combine tannins, wood distillates and nanoellulse into a price-competitive wood preservation product.
Click here for source (Luke)
Image Credit: Erkki Oksanen, Luke
