Nanowood, Formas, 2017-2021
Wood plays a key role in the transition to a biobased-economy providing one of the best alternatives to fossil fuels and materials.
The overall objective of this project is to bring wood biology and material science closer together. Currently the biological variation and our ability to alter wood properties through breeding and molecular biology techniques is underexploited in material science. The properties and versatility of wood resources is the basis on which new sustainable materials can be developed and by combining the knowledge from wood biology and material science we can obtain strong synergistic effects.
The aim of this project is to identify and improve the best Swedish raw material for nanocellulose production and to identify genetic factors influencing the properties and preparation of nanocellulose from wood. We will focus on two tree species: Spruce as the economically most important tree in Sweden, and hybrid aspen as a fast-growing feedstock envisioned for the Swedish plantation forestry.
The project members represent material science (Prof. Oksman, LTU), wood chemistry (Dr Gorzsas, UmU), quantitative genetics (Assoc. Prof. García-Gil, UPSC), and wood biology (Assoc. Prof. Niittylä, UPSC).
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