Forest products industry is presently facing a large challenge to transform its activities from the traditional pulp and paper products to the development of the more high value-added products and services. Refining of wood to cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin streams possess high potentials for novel bio-based materials. Aerogels are advanced porous materials that have low weight and density, a large surface area, and high mechanical strength. Our ambitious aim in the AEROWOOD project is to develop novel aerogel materials from all wood components with vast and diversified application prospective, especially in the fields of packaging and biomedicine. Aerogels with the tailored porosity, morphology and carefully designed surface properties are ideal to control active components and to introduce active functions, either sensing or barrier properties for intelligent packaging applications and to tackle the stability issues of labile bioactive molecules.

AEROWOOD is funded by the WoodWisdom-Net Research Programme, Academy of Finland, The Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW), The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), German funding agency and The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (Slovenia)

Photos: Heidi Penttinen (unless stated otherwise)