Multiscale Engineered Waste Wood Particles toward a Sustainable, Scalable, and High‐Performance Structural Material
Xiaofei Dong, Rui Song, Peiru Wang, Jianfu Tang, Yaoxing Wang, Ying Shang, Yanjun Xie, Jian Li, Jianwei Song, Wentao Gan
Abstract
Abstract Developing sustainable and lightweight structural materials is a promising strategy for reducing carbon emissions in transportation and buildings. However, producing high‐performance bulk structural materials from sustainable biomass materials while maintaining excellent mechanical strength remains a major challenge, especially for further scale‐up. Herein, a scalable and robust bottom‐up strategy is reported to fabricate bulk wooden plate (W‐plate) with a typical “brick‐and‐mortar” structure from engineered wood particles via moderate delignification and in situ LiCl/DMAc treatment followed by hot‐pressing. The W‐plate constructed by delignified wood particles and regenerated cellulose nanofibers can achieve a confluence of mechanical strengthening and toughening by the ordered lamination structure and multiscale cellulose micro/nanofiber crosslinking interactions, resulting in high flexural strength (225.17 ± 12.18 MPa) and high fracture toughness (4.01 ± 0.53 MPa m 0.5 ) while maintaining a low density (1.34 g cm −3 ), superior to typical metals and ceramics. Moreover, the W‐plate exhibits advantageous thermal properties, including a low thermal expansion coefficient (<19 × 10 −6 K −1 ) and a high storage modulus (>7.5 GPa) compared to those of petroleum‐based polymers. Coupled with abundant and renewable raw materials, all‐cellulose components, and scalable and recyclable fabrication, the W‐plate can potentially be used as a high‐performance, cost‐effective, and environmentally friendly alternative for engineering applications.