Wood Chemistry
Our research projects:
1. CHEMARTS & DWoC 2.0
CHEMARTS is a long-term strategic collaboration between two Aalto University schools, The School of Chemical Technology (Aalto CHEM) and The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Aalto ARTS). Read more about CHEMARTS here.
Design Driven Value Chains In The World Of Cellulose (DWoC) is a multidisciplinary research collaboration project focused on finding new & innovative applications for cellulosic materials. Read more about the DWoC research collaboration here.
2. Catalytic Bleaching
Pulp bleaching is a fundamentally important part of a modern state-of-the-art pulp mill. The work carried out within the Wood Chemistry research group concentrates on completely new catalytic pulp bleaching innovations which could potentially lead to sizeable economic and environmental benefits due to reduced raw material and energy needs.
3. Utilization of Willow Bark
Traditionally willow (Salix) has been studied mainly as an energy crop for the combined heat and power generation. The Wood Chemistry research group is conducting research on the alternative uses of willow bark with extremely interesting and promising results. The work is currently focusing on the chemical structure of the willow bark and its fractination to extractives and fibers.
4. Cell Wall Reactivity
Doctoral candidates from the Wood Chemistry research group are taking part in a research program focusing on the development of advanced scientific methods for analyzing cellulose fiber reactivity. Work carried out within this topic include accessibility measurements based on dynamic vapour sorption (DVS) with deuterium oxide (D2O) exchange as well as work on the reactivity of cellulose fibers with iodometric titration duting TEMPO+-mediated oxidation.
5. Cell Wall Structure
The cell wall structure studies carried out in the Wood Chemistry research group aim at revealing the wood ultrastucture i.e. the organization & distribution of subcellular components such as cellulose and lignin. The ultrastructure of wood has a huge influence on the various processes that are used to transform wood into different products as the tight arrangement of cell components limit their accessibility in different chemical and mechanical treatments.
6. Raman Spectroscopy
The Wood Chemistry research group of Professor Tapani Vuorinen is pioneering the utilization of the optical UV-Raman imaging to study the structure of cell wall in combination with highly advanced mathematical and computational modelling.
7. Modeling of Pulping & Bleaching
The extensive work carried out within the wood chemistry research group on modeling of pulping and bleaching processes has resulted in e.g. the development of a pulp bleaching model which is a powerful tool for scientists and engineers alike.
Research group members:
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