Learning About: Nanocellulose and Concrete

A research project of the U.S. Forest Service, Purdue University, the Forest Products Laboratory, and the U.S. Endowment for Forests and Communities that has involved adding cellulose nanocrystals to concrete has raised the possibility of using biomass material to dramatically strengthen concrete building projects.

A small addition of (0.05%) nanocrystal cellulose to concrete in the bridge involved in the project across Moffett Creek in Siskiyou County, California strengthened the bridge's concrete structure. This poses the potential of biomass waste wood to generate efficiency in concrete buildings. This abbreviated article by the Forest Product Laboratory explains the potential benefits.

A link to the full article by Angela Aguero is at the end of this article.


Nanocellulose and Concrete: A Happy Marriage

By Angela Aguero

Cellulose is the most abundant material on Earth. If you take a very close look, perhaps with a magnifying glass, at some kinds of paper – for example, tissue or newsprint – you will be able to see tiny hair-like filaments. Those are pulp fibers made from cellulose. As we all learned in school, paper comes from wood, and wood is made up of tiny fibers made of cellulose that are glued together with other compounds called lignin and hemicellulose. Wood (and other cellulose-rich plants such as cotton) can be shredded into tiny bits that contain long chains of cellulose polymers – repeating, end-to-end chains of sugar molecules that plants and trees make during the process of photosynthesis.

Read the entire article: https://www.fpl.fs.usda.gov/la...