Forest Products
The Forest Products research group conducts cutting-edge research in forest-derived raw materials and side streams, to promote the utilization of renewable materials and contribute to sustainable development goals.
Our research
The aim of the Forest Products research group is to provide knowledge-based solutions for efficiently utilizing forest materials and developing functional and environmentally-friendly products. Forest Products performs interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research to influence the entire forest value chain, from raw material sourcing to product development, processing and market. We have a close collaboration with well-known national and international research institutes, universities, and forest and wood product industries.
We focus on:
- Wood quality assessment: Micro- and macro-structural analyses, including physical, mechanical, chemical, and anatomical characterization, of wood and non-wood raw materials from various silvicultural practices for suggesting the optimal application.
- Wood protection and modification: Extending the service life of wood and other bio-based materials and products by creating new functionalities through advanced processing.
- Wood composites: Wood- and fiber-based composites from renewable sources (virgin or reclaimed raw materials) for furniture and building applications; valorization of side streams from forest and agriculture industries for developing bio-based adhesives and additives.
- Wood processing: Sawmilling, wood machining and wood drying to ensure the quality of the final product.
- Wood market: Wood product trade and policy, timber prices and forecasts, production, consumption, and trade of forest products.
The research within Forest Products is part of the Forestry and Wood field of research, and of the Linnaeus Knowledge Environments Advanced Materials and Green Sustainable Development.
Research projects
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Doctoral project: Raw material properties and process optimization for increased value-added wood flooring products The development of the wood industry relates to its capability for improvement of…
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Project: Application of renewable hydrophobic formulations for wood composite panel manufacturing The project aims at expanding the competencies and transferring knowledge between academia and the…
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Project: Artificial heartwood The project aims to improve the properties of pine sapwood for window applications using a renewable, tannin-based formula.
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Project: Characteristics of aspen logs to improved production performance The overall purpose of the project is to increase our understanding on specific wood qualitative aspects of aspen logs used in…
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Project: Competitive timber structures – Resource efficiency and climate benefits along the wood value chain through engineering design Through increasing scientific knowledge along the wood…
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Project: Fire protection of wood with bio-based wood modification The aim of the project is to evaluate bio-based alternatives for fire protection of wooden facades and wood-based board materials. It…
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Project: Graphene application in bioadhesive for sustainable wood composite panels The project aims to expand the use of graphene in the wood industry by developing and testing renewable bio-based…
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Project: Innovative modified birch wood product for building applications (InnoBjörk) The InnoBjörk project is intended to provide solutions for how value-added products can be made from Swedish birch…
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Project: Predicting the water vapor sorption of wood with machine learning methods The water vapor sorption behavior of wood is a fundamental property that affects nearly all of its properties such as…
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Project: TallBoard: Tall oil application in industrial fiberboards The aim of this project is to replace the fossil-based paraffin wax with a hydrophobic agent made from tall oil for manufacturing…
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Project: Wood anatomy and identification The aim of this project is to improve lab facilities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as for the researchers, in addressing the questions…
Publications
Laboratory resources
We have well-equipped laboratories and specialised modern instruments in the area of wood material science and technology, e g an anatomical lab with modern microscopy, a physical and mechanical lab including non-destructive testing, a chemical lab with wet and analytical chemistry, an emission, weathering and durability lab, and a composite panel manufacturing lab. The infrastructure is used to support research and education of our students, and to provide services for the forest and wood industry in Southern Sweden.
Tree ring analysis, microscopy and wood anatomy, fiber analysis and densitometry
- Wood cell anatomy software WinCell
- Image analysis densitometry with the softwares Lignovision and WinDendro
- Haglöf increment borers
- Micro-boring with Suunto increment hammer
Physical properties
- Climate and mould chambers
- Climate and freezing rooms
- Drying and vacuum ovens
- Balances and dial micrometers
- Moisture meters for chips and fibres Imal
Chemical properties
- Soxhlet extraction
- Willey mill Polymix
- Ash muffle furnaces
- Viscosity meter
- Disperser Ultra-Turrax
- Heating mandles and plates
- Volatile organic emissions test chambers (1m3)
- Access to wet chemistry and spectroscopy lab (Department of built environment and energy technology) for FTIR, GC-MS, ICP, FID, TGA, DSC, etc
Mechanical properties and non-destructive testing
- Stress wave tool IML Microhammer (standing trees, logs, lumber)
- Mechanical tool IML Fractometer II (increment cores)
- Resonance tool Fakopp TreeSonic Timer (standing trees)
- Ultrasonic tool Fakopp Ultrasonic Timer (seedlings, lumber, panels)
- Ultrasonic tool SylvaTest Trio (standing trees, logs, lumber, construction)
- Resistograph Series 6 R650-SC MTS (standing trees)
- Testing machine MTS Exceed 10 kN
Composites' manufacturing
Weathering (paints, coatings, surfaces)
Group members
- Alma Strkonjic Doctoral student
- +46 470-70 82 70
- almastrkonjiclnuse
- Åsa Rydell Blom Associate professor, pro-dean
- +46 470-70 81 26
- asablomlnuse
- Jimmy Johansson Professor
- +46 470-70 80 33
- +46 72-526 41 31
- jimmyjohanssonlnuse
- Johan Lindeberg Senior lecturer
- +46 470-70 81 94
- +46 76-760 36 75
- johanlindeberglnuse
- Jonaz Nilsson Lecturer
- +46 470-70 89 42
- +46 72-594 16 04
- jonaznilssonlnuse
- Nicolas Hans Friedrich Neitzel
- nicolasneitzellnuse
- Peter Lerman Senior lecturer
- +46 470-70 83 79
- +46 70-388 63 59
- peterlermanlnuse
- Reza Hosseinpourpia Associate Professor
- +46 470-70 80 74
- +46 73-089 47 33
- rezahosseinpourpialnuse
- Sebastian Svensson Meulmann Doctoral student
- +46 470-70 80 51
- +46 70-257 34 87
- sebastiansvenssonmeulmannlnuse
- Sheikh Ali Ahmed Senior lecturer
- +46 470-76 74 92
- +46 72-501 44 15
- sheikhahmedlnuse
- Stergios Adamopoulos Professor visiting
- +46 470-76 75 47
- +46 72-547 22 18
- stergiosadamopouloslnuse
- Victor Grubîi Doctoral student
- +46 470-70 89 70
- victorgrubiilnuse