Wood science


Wood science is the scientific field which predominantly studies and investigates elements associated with the formation, the physical and chemical composition, and the macro- and microstructure of wood as a bio-based and lignocellulosic material. Wood science additionally delves into the biological, chemical, physical, and mechanical properties and characteristics of wood as a natural material.
Wood science is an interdisciplinary field, which combines fundamental aspects of biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand and utilise the wood in various applications.
The deep understanding of wood plays a pivotal role in several endeavors, such as the processing of wood, the production of wood-based materials like particleboard, fiberboard, OSB, plywood and other materials, as well as the utilization of wood and wood-based materials in construction and a wide array of products, including pulpwood, furniture, engineered wood products, such as glued laminated timber, CLT, LVL, PSL, as well as pellets, briquettes, and numerous wood-derived products.

History

Initial comprehensive investigations in the field of wood science emerged at the start of the 20th century. In 1902, the Wood Processing Laboratory was founded in the Department of Forestry at Tokyo University and academic studies on wood processing were first initiated. The Forest and Forest Products Research Institute in Tokyo was also established in 1905. In 1906 the Forest Products Research Institute was created in Dehradun, India.
The advent of contemporary wood research commenced in 1910, when the Forest Products Laboratory was established in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The Forest Products Laboratory played a fundamental role in wood science providing scientific research on wood and wood products in partnership with academia, industry, local and other institutions in North and South America and worldwide.
In the following years, several wood research institutes came into existence across almost all industrialized nations. A general overview of these wood institutes and laboratories is shown below:
  • 1913: Institute of Wood and Pulp Chemistry Eberswalde, Germany
  • 1913: Forest Products Laboratory Montreal, Canada
  • 1918: Forest Products Laboratory Vancouver, Canada
  • 1919: Forest Products Laboratory Melbourne, Australia
  • 1923: Department of Mechanics and Wood Technology, University of Sopron, Hungary
  • 1923: Forest Products Research Laboratory, Princes Risborough, Great Britain
  • 1929: Institute for Wood Science and Technology, Leningrant, St. Petersburg, USSR
  • 1933: Centre Technique du Bois, Paris, France
  • 1936: Wood Department of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing in Zurich, Switzerland
  • 1942: Laboratory of Wood Technology Helsinki, Finland
  • 1944: Swedish Forest Products Research Laboratory, former TRÄTEK, Sweden
  • 1946: Latvian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Wood Chemistry, Latvia
  • 1946: Institute for Wood Research, iVTH, Germany
  • 1947: State Wood Research Institute Bratislava, Slovakia
  • 1947: Forest Research Institute – Rotorua, New Zealand
  • 1948: Austrian Wood Research Institute Vienna, Austria
  • 1949: Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology, Norway
  • 1950: Federal Institute for Forestry and Forest Products, Germany
  • 1952: Institute for Wood Technology and Fibers, Germany
  • 1952: Institute for Wood Research and Wood Technology, Germany
  • 1954: Faculty of Wood Technology, Poznan University, Poland.
From the '60s, the founding of research institutes in the field of wood sciences continued in many universities, and also in universities of applied sciences, and technological universities.
Today, the International Academy of Wood Science, a widely recognised and non-profit assembly of wood and wood-related scientists, represents worldwide the scientific area of wood science and technology, and all of its associated technological domains.

Sub-areas

The field of wood science can be categorized into three distinct main sub-areas, which include:
  • Wood biology, a subset of wood science which focuses on the formation, structure and composition of wood tissues. It involves investigations conducted at the macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular levels. Additionally, this sub-field encompasses wood anatomy which involves the identification of various wood species.
  • Wood chemistry, whose primary focus is the analysis of the chemical constituents comprising wood, with specific emphasis on cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, and extractives, as well as on the various products derived from these components. It is also explores potential uses for pulp and paper production, the utilization of wood and wood waste, the generation of energy and chemicals from pulping byproducts, and the conversion of biomass.
  • Wood physics, which constitutes an essential component of the field of wood science, building upon discoveries in wood chemistry, wood anatomy examining wood behaviour in relation to moisture, which involves fundamental aspects of moisture absorption, swelling, and shrinkage, b) investigating the impact of temperature on wood properties, encompassing heat conduction and heat storage, and c) assessing the mechanical, rheological, and acoustic properties and qualities of both wood and wood-based products.

    Scientific journals

Below is a list of the referred scientific journals within the area of wood sciences:
  • Holzforschung
  • European Journal of Wood and Wood Products
  • Wood Science and Technology
  • Wood Material Science and Engineering
  • Cellulose
  • Mokuzai Gakkaishi
  • Journal of Wood Science
  • BioResources
  • IAWA Journal
  • Maderas: Ciencia y Tecnología
  • Wood Research
  • Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology
  • Forest Products Journal
  • Wood and Fiber Science
  • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
  • International Wood Products Journal
  • Drvna Industrija
  • Drewno
  • Journal of the Indian Academy of Wood Science
  • Iranian Journal of Wood and Paper Industries
  • ''Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria''