Engineered wood traps carbon dioxide

According to Structural Materials and Global Climate, building construction and use accounts for an estimated 40 per cent of emissions, so the development of sustainable alternatives to existing materials could help mitigate climate change and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Addressing both issues simultaneously, materials scientist Muhammad Rahman and collaborators found a way to incorporate molecules of a carbon dioxide-trapping crystalline porous material into wood, according to a study published in Cell Reports Physical Science.

“Wood is a sustainable, renewable structural material that we already use extensively,” Rahman said in a statement. “Our engineered wood did exhibit greater strength than normal, untreated wood.”

To achieve this, the network of cellulose fibres that gives wood its strength is first cleared out through delignification.

“Wood is made up of three essential components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin,” said Rahman. “Lignin is what gives wood its colour, so when you take lignin out, the wood becomes colourless. Removing the lignin is a fairly simple process that involves a two-step chemical treatment using environmentally benign substances. After removing the lignin, we use bleach or hydrogen peroxide to remove the hemicellulose.”