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Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Fabrication and Design of Wood-Based High-Performance Composites

DOI: 10.3791/60327-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Delignify wood veneers using chemical treatment
  • ✓ Densify and mold delignified wood in closed molds
  • ✓ Shape and densify wood using vacuum forming in open molds
  • ✓ Manufacture, reuse, and recycle composite laminate parts
Protocol

Biopharma Insights Delignified densified wood represents a new promising lightweight, high-performance and bio-based material with great potential to partially substitute natural fiber reinforced- or glass fiber reinforced composites in the future. We here present two versatile fabrication routes and demonstrate the possibility to create complex composite parts.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~3–5 days (delignification 24–48 hrs, densification/forming 4–8 hrs, composite assembly and testing variable)

Steps

1
Delignify wood veneers chemically

Apply chemical delignification treatment to wood veneers to remove lignin and create a substrate suitable for densification. This process prepares the material for downstream processing.

▶ 00:36
2
Densify wood in closed molds

Heat and compress delignified wood in closed molds to achieve densification and form complex composite parts with defined geometry. This method produces high-performance, dimensionally controlled components.

▶ 02:17
3
Shape wood via vacuum forming

Use vacuum shaping and densification in open molds to form delignified wood into complex geometries. This alternative route provides flexibility in part design without closed-mold constraints.

▶ 03:25
4
Manufacture and recycle laminate composites

Assemble laminated composite parts from densified wood, demonstrate reuse cycles, and evaluate biodegradation properties. This step confirms sustainability and performance of recycled materials.

▶ 04:42
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