Composite wood products are widely applied in furniture manufacturing in order to replace the more expensive and rarer natural wood. For the manufacture of the above wooden products, chipboard and fiberboard, various forms of wood (chips, sheets, etc.), from different forestalsources, are combined with mixtures of special polymeric resins and are thermally welded under pressure. For reasons of functionality, appearance and durability, a lot of times the aforementioned wood products are coated with sheets of paper, impregnated in resins. A significant disadvantage of these materials is the presence of fingerprints or other contaminants on their surface due to low hydro- and oleo-phobicity. Also, the presence of moisture on the surface leads to the development of microorganisms. In contrast to the hitherto unsuccessful methods of using oleophobic additives and antimicrobial agents, this project proposes to modify the surface of composite wood products with nanoprinting thermal lithography, so that it becomes both hydro- and oleophobic, but also antimicrobial.

In addition, the use of (nano)cellulose as an additive of adhesive resins will be studied to enhance the mechanical and other properties of chipboard as well as the hydrophobic and antimicrobial properties of their surface. (nano)cellulose is able to improve the properties of composite wood products, while contributing to the effort to replace toxic and petrochemical raw materials with bio-based ingredients. Cellulose (or  vegetable cellulose) is the most abundant and readily available bio-polymer and is contained in various types of ligno-cellulosicbiomass (wood, stems, straw, etc.). It is bonded to two other bio-polymers,  hemicellulose and lignin and is obtained through thermochemical treatment. The quantity  and purity of the cellulose obtained depends on the efficiency and selectivity of the separation/fractionation processes and on the type/nature of ligno-cellulosic biomass. Alternatively, it is possible to produce high purity cellulose through biochemical/microbial fermentation processes (bacterial cellulose) from various raw materials, such as crude glycerol. The two types of cellulose will be suitably processed to produce cellulose nanostructures (nano-crystals and nano-fibrils) as well as surface modification with active and/or hydrophobic groups (e.g. amino- and fluoro-groups).

In order to achieve the objectives of the project, 3 organizations with complementary scientific and technological expertise will collaborate: i) CHIMAR S.A. – preparation of resins and chipboard, ii) Nanotypos G.P. – thermal nanolithography and iii) Department of Chemistry AUTH – processing of biomass towards high added value products, and development of polymeric and nanocomposite materials.