This text details the principal concepts and developments in wood science, chemistry and technology. It includes new chapters on the chemical synthesis of cellulose and its technology, preservation of wood resources and the conservation of waterlogged wood.

Tropical forests occupy only one-tenth of the world's land area but are home to more than half of the world's flora and fauna. They comprise extremely complex labyrinth of ecological interactions. The astounding richness and biodiversity of tropical forests are rapidly dwindling. There is a fear that the burgeoning human population and industrialization, where a majority of these tropical forests are found, may lead to the clearing or modification or may be a complete disappearance of the remaining tropical forests within few decades. This has severely altered the vital biogeochemical cycles of carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and so on and has led to the change in global climate and pristine natural ecosystems. Hence, there is an urgent need to protect, restore, conserve, and improve the forest resources before they are irrevocably lost. In this second edition of the book Tropical Forests, the chapters share the above issues and help in understanding, educating, and creating awareness on the role of "tropical forests" for the very survival of mankind, climate change, and the diversity of biota across the globe. This book will be of great use and could be useful to students, scientists, ecologists, population and conservation biologists, and forest managers across the globe.

Materials from renewable resources are receiving increased attention, as leading industries and manufacturers attempt to replace declining petrochemical-based feedstocks with products derived from natural biomass, such as cereal straws. Cereal straws are expected to play an important role in the shift toward a sustainable economy, and a basic knowledge of the composition and structure of cereal straw is the key to using it wisely. Cereal Straw as a Resource for Sustainable Biomaterials and Biofuels: Chemistry, Extractives, Lignins, Hemicelluloses and Cellulose provides an introduction to straw chemistry. Topics discussed include the structure, ultrastructure, and chemical composition of straw; the structure and isolation of extractives from the straw; the three main components of straw: cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignins; and chemical modifications of straw for industrial applications. This book will be helpful to scientists interested in the areas of natural resource management, environmental chemistry, plant chemistry, material science, polysaccharide chemistry, and lignin chemistry. It will also be of interest to academic and industrial scientists/researchers interested in novel applications of agricultural residues for industrial and/or recycling technologies. - Provides the basics of straw composition and the structure of its cell walls - Details the procedures required to fractionate straw components to produce chemical derivatives from straw cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignins - Elucidates new techniques for the production of biodegradable materials for the energy sector, chemical industry, and pulp and paper business

This book explores the range and the utility of supercritical fluid system in a variety of diverse chemical applications. The book highlighted the green process and served the necessary background and details about separation, material processing, and reaction regarding technique, mechanism, protocol, and potential applications; hence it can appeal to academics and industrialists. Both from a chemical as well as engineering scene, the book updates the recent advances in supercritical fluid technology and other pressurized-solvent system (subcritical water technology). The most wide-spread use of supercritical CO2 as a solvent has been in supercritical fluid extraction and fractionation processes. Other applications are recrystallization of pharmaceuticals, metal nanoparticles generation, and polymer processing. Sub or supercritical water is a unique green solvent which can serve a high solubility for many weakly-polar organics and light inorganic gases. This solvent denotes very high reactivity for biomass processing.

This book provides state-of-the-art reviews, current research on and the prospects of lignin production, biological, thermal and chemical conversion methods, and lignin technoeconomics. Fundamental topics related to lignin chemistry, properties, analysis, characterization, and depolymerization mechanisms, as well as enzymatic, fungal and bacterial degradation methods are covered. The book also examines practical topics related to technologies for lignin and ultra-pure lignin recovery, activated carbon, carbon fiber production and materials, and addresses the biological conversion of lignin with fungi, bacteria or enzymes to produce chemicals, along with chemical, catalytic, thermochemical and solvolysis conversion methods. Lastly, it presents a case study on practical polyurethane foam production using lignin. Lignin has a bright future and will be an essential feedstock for producing renewable chemicals, biofuels and value-added products. Offering comprehensive information on this promising material, the book represents a valuable resource for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in the field of biochemistry and energy.

Documenting critical advances in this rapidly evolving field, the Second Edition highlights the need for new applications and technologies that assist in the determination of molecular weight and molecular weight distributions of polymers in an accurate, efficient manner. This volume presents the latest findings from a international team of specialists and continues to inspire and extend practical applications of size exclusion chromatography (SEC). It includes six new chapters covering high-speed size exclusion chromatography, SEC of low molecular weight materials, and the extended family of techniques, from two-dimensional liquid chromatography to high osmotic pressure chromatography.

This book describes some recent advances in rice research in terms of crop breeding and improvement (Section 1), crop production and protection (Section 2), and crop quality control and food processing (Section 3). It contains fourteen chapters that cover such topics as two-line rice breeding in India, the different aspects of aromatic rice, bacterial diseases of rice, quality control and breeding strategies, and much more. This volume is a useful reference for professionals and graduate students working in all areas of rice science and technology.

Natural fiber composites have experienced a renaissance over the last two decades as a response to societal demands for developing eco-friendly, biodegradable and recyclable materials. They are now being extensively used in everyday products as well as in automotive, packaging, sports and the construction industries. These fibers require surface treatments in order to improve their properties and interfacial bonding with polymer matrices, and to reduce their hydrophilic character. These methods can be grouped into three major categories: chemical, physical and biological. Chemical methods use chemical reagents to reduce fibers' hydrophilic tendency and thus improve compatibility with the matrix. They also expose more reactive groups on the fibre surface to facilitate efficient coupling with the matrix. Physical methods change structural and surface properties of the fiber and thereby influence the interfacial bonding with matrices, without extensively changing the chemical composition of the fibers. They are cleaner and simpler than the chemical methods. Biological methods use biological agents like fungi, enzymes and bacteria to modify the fiber surface properties. These methods are not toxic like chemical methods and are not energy-intensive like physical methods.Surface Treatment Methods of Natural Fibers and their Effects on Biocomposites presents an overview and recent developments of these methods. All the major methods are reviewed, explaining the science and methodology behind each method. The effects of these methods on various properties of fibers and the biocomposites made from these fibers are analyzed in detail.The book will be an essential reference for academic researchers, materials scientists and engineers, postgraduate students and industrial researchers and development scientists and engineers working on natural fibers and biocomposites. - Extensive coverage of all the surface modification methods (chemical, physical, biological) of natural fibers and its effect on properties of produced composites - The chemical mechanisms which are utilized in surface treatments are discussed in detail and how these affect the interfacial properties and characteristics - Systematic and comprehensive review on surface modifications of natural fibres, and explains how the effect of the surface treatment can be characterized and measured, as well as the effect on properties

This book summarizes many of the recent research accomplishments in the area of polyvinylchloride (PVC)-based blends and their preparation, characterization and applications. Various sub-topics are addressed, such as the state-of-the-art of PVC based blends, new challenges and opportunities, emphasis being given to the types and sizes of components/fillers and optimum compositions of PVC blends, their processing and structure-properties relationships, modification/compatibilization methods, and possible applications. PVC/thermoplastic based nano, micro and macro blends, PVC membranes, bio-based plasticizers and PVC blends with components from renewable resources are reported. The various chapters in this book are contributed by prominent researchers from industry, academia and government/private research laboratories across the globe. It covers an up-to-date record on the major findings and observations in the field of PVC-based blends.