Research into Wood Ultrastructure

Ultrastructural Assessment Of Wood And Pulp Fibres Understanding the complex biological ultrastructure of natural fibres at the nano-scale is fundamental to improvement and better utilisation thereof.

Assessing surface and cross-sectional morphology of fibres using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope (FEG-SEM):

Can provide information on fibre to fibre interactions within a matrix
Processing effects on ultrastructural integrity of fibres
Properties of composites

For more information, please contact: Prabashni Lekha

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to understand the molecular aggregation of cellulose in wood and dissolving pulp fibres. AFM is used in conjunction with Raman Spectroscopy and Solid State NMR spectroscopy to monitor the supramolecular structure of cellulose in wood and dissolving pulp for application in the dissolving pulp industry.

For more information, please contact: Viren Chunilall

Sample Preparation For Microscopy

Mapping Target Molecules Across The Fibre Cell Wall Using Enzymes And Carbohydrate Binding Modules (Cbms)

Profiling the micro-distribution of different molecules (e.g. xylan and mannan) across the wood and fibre cell wall is beneficial in understanding how these molecules respond to chemical processing and how the residual presence affects chemical pulp properties.

For more information, please contact: Prabashni Lekha