Guest Editors
Pavlo Bekhta, Professor, Sc.D., Ukrainian National Forestry University, Ukraine
Prof. Bekhta is the head of the Department of Wood-Based Composites, Cellulose & Paper of the Ukrainian National Forestry University since 1999. His main research interests are in the field of wood and wood-based composites, lignocellulosic composites, wood-polymer composites, wood bonding, wood modification, and wood adhesives. He is the author/co-author of 4 textbooks, 8 tutorials, 5 monographs, 2 dictionaries, and over 250 articles, including 76 in refereed scientific journals. His developments are protected by 132 patents in Ukraine and Russia. He was actively involved in international programs, particularly in COST Actions FP0904, FP1006, FP1303, FP1407, and CA15216. He also has experience being a Guest Editor of several Special Issues in different scientific journals and a reviewer in many prestigious journals in the field of wood science and technology. Under his supervision, 3 dissertations for the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences and 14 dissertations for the degree of Candidate of Technical Sciences were defended. He was elected as a Fellow of the Ukrainian Academy of Forestry in 2000 and as a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) in 2022.
Ján Sedliačik, Professor, PhD., Technical University in Zvolen, Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology, Slovakia
Prof. Sedliačik has been the head of the Department of Furniture and Wood Products since 2015. His main research interests are in the fields of adhesives for wood materials and constructions, eco-friendly wood-based composites, wood-polymer composites, the mechanical and physical properties of wood-based panels, and the determination of formaldehyde emission. He is the author/co-author of 1 book, 2 monographs, 1 dictionary, and over 200 articles, including 70 in Web of Science-indexed journals. He is actively involved in international programs, e.g., in COST Actions, ERASMUS, and the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission. He also has experience as an editor in chief, a member of the editorial board, and a reviewer in many prestigious journals. Under his supervision, 13 dissertations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor in the field of Wood Sciences and Technology were defended.
Salim Hiziroglu, Professor Emeritus, Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, USA
Salim Hiziroglu has Ph.D. degree in Wood Products from Michigan State University, MS degree in Wood Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and BS degree in Forest Products Engineering from Karadeniz Technical University in Turkey. Currently, Dr. Hiziroglu is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM) at Oklahoma State University (OSU). His research has focused primarily on value-added composite panel technology. Dr. Hiziroglu had been as a Visiting Professor at Lulea University, Sweden, Kasetsart University, Thailand, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan, the University of Tokyo, Japan, National Pingtung University Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey and King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has 209 refereed journal publications related to wood products and natural based materials in addition to 100 publications in conference proceedings and through Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. He was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS) in 2016.
Summary
Traditional wood-based composites are bonded with synthetic formaldehyde-based adhesives. These adhesives bring environmental problems because most of them are artificially synthesized from petroleum, which cannot be biodegraded. On the other hand, they also release formaldehyde, which is harmful to human health and toxic to the environment. Consequently, the production of wood-based composites with a lower impact on the environment might be realized by the incorporation of various sustainable technologies, including the application of formaldehyde scavengers, pre-treatment or post-treatment of composites, and using recycled wood and alternative renewable raw materials obtained from agricultural waste and by-products. Another option is to apply nanotechnology to wood, which can result in the next generation of composites with superior service characteristics. One of the possible directions for the creation of eco-friendly wood composites is the use of thermoplastics and their copolymers as adhesives. Various chemical (hydrogen peroxide treatment, citric acid treatment, silane treatment, etc.) and physical (plasma and heat treatment, etc.) modification approaches can be undertaken to improve adhesion and compatibility between thermoplastics and wood. Another alternative to the use of synthetic formaldehyde-based adhesives is to manufacture binderless wood composites since wood is a natural polymer material that is rich in lignocellulosic compounds such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin.
The Special Issue "Environmentally Friendly Wood-Based Composites Based on Sustainable Technologies and Renewable Materials" is aimed at collecting high-quality original research and review articles on topics including (but not limited to) the development of novel and eco-friendly wood-based composites based on sustainable technologies and renewable materials.
Keywords
Environmentally friendly wood-based composites; Binderless wood composites; Formaldehyde scavengers; Wood modification; Nanomaterials in wood-based composites; Sustainable technologies; Renewable materials; Plastic recycling; Wood recycling; Agricultural waste and by-products
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