Chemically-Based Modern Wood Composites

While conventional wood-based products are by far predominant, the development of a new generation of wood-based composites has taken place with focus on more chemistry involved in technology and products, following current topics such as biorefinery, resource efficiency, dematerialization and hybrid concepts. To this group belong the well-established wood-plastic composites (WPC) as typical hybrid systems being created from wood and plastic components. Other products use lignin in combination with wood and additives or convert wood meal and additives into densified materials by means of high pressure and temperature. Inherent in both concepts is the fact that they use technologies proven in the plastic industry, such as injection molding or extrusion pressing. Special wood composites are wood SiC ceramics, which are produced by conversion of the respective biogenic basic material into a carbon template, the so-called carbon green body, and by subsequent infiltration with liquid silicon under vacuum at high temperatures.