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

The production of textile materials comprises a very large and complex global industry that utilises a diverse range of fibre types and creates a variety of textile products. As the great majority of such products are coloured, predominantly using aqueous dyeing processes, the coloration of textiles is a large-scale global business in which complex procedures are used to apply different types of dye to the various types of textile material. The development of such dyeing processes is the result of substantial research activity, undertaken over many decades, into the physico-chemical aspects of dye adsorption and the establishment of ‘dyeing theory’, which seeks to describe the mechanism by which dyes interact with textile fibres. Physico-Chemical Aspects of Textile Coloration provides a comprehensive treatment of the physical chemistry involved in the dyeing of the major types of natural, man-made and synthetic fibres with the principal types of dye. The book covers: fundamental aspects of the physical and chemical structure of both fibres and dyes, together with the structure and properties of water, in relation to dyeing; dyeing as an area of study as well as the terminology employed in dyeing technology and science; contemporary views of intermolecular forces and the nature of the interactions that can occur between dyes and fibres at a molecular level; fundamental principles involved in dyeing theory, as represented by the thermodynamics and kinetics of dye sorption; detailed accounts of the mechanism of dyeing that applies to cotton (and other cellulosic fibres), polyester, polyamide, wool, polyacrylonitrile and silk fibres; non-aqueous dyeing, as represented by the use of air, organic solvents and supercritical CO2 fluid as alternatives to water as application medium. The up-to-date text is supported by a large number of tables, figures and illustrations as well as footnotes and widespread use of references to published work. The book is essential reading for students, teachers, researchers and professionals involved in textile coloration.

The Handbook of Natural Fibres, Second Edition, Volume One: Types, Properties and Factors Affecting Breeding and Cultivation covers every aspect of natural fibers, their breeding, cultivation, processing and applications. This volume features fundamental discussions of each fiber, covering different stages of breeding and cultivation. Natural fibrous resources, both lignocellulosic and protein ones, are renewable, biodegradable, and nontoxic, making them an important source of sustainable textile solutions. A broad range of natural fibers are covered in this book, including cotton, jute, kenaf, flax, hemp, sisal, ramie, curaua, pineapple, bamboo, coir, sheep wool, and more. - Provides detailed instructions for how to carry out the latest scientific methods for identifying natural fibers - Explains properties of natural fibers that will be of interest to readers in growth fields like biocomposites and nanofibers - Includes a rare overview of emerging natural fibers and their uses, along with sources of further information

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.

Biorefineries compiles the basic science and technologies used to convert terrestrial and aquatic biomass into essential molecular compounds and polymeric materials. The book provides in depth insights into this fairly recent concept of industrial chemistry that aims to achieve optimal economic profits while minimizing the environmental impact. Chapters written by renowned experts cover, amongst others, the application of catalysis, downstream processing, biomass sourced olefins, lignin biorefinery techniques and biogas. The authors thoroughly examine and explain the value chain for biomass conversion into platform molecules and their transformation into final products. A comprehensive thematic overview on the topic giving beginners access to fundamental concepts is presented. Supplemented by numerous full color figures and tables, the contents impart knowledge about the involved techniques. Advanced students and experts in the field will find the summary of state-of-the-art research and current literature of valuable interest. Explores the enormous potential of biomass conversion as a future source for fuels and chemicals Focuses on both general scientific background and current innovations in the field of biorefinery Targets students and researchers in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, and Materials Science About the Editors Prof. Michele Aresta, Chair of the Scientific Committee of CIRCC in Italy and holds the IMM Chair at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NUS, Singapore. He is author of over 200 papers and Author or Editor of nine books. Prof. Angela Dibenedetto, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Bari (Italy) focused on carbon dioxide utilization by applying biorefinery concepts; and Director of the Interuniversity Consortium on Chemical Reactivity and Catalysis-CIRCC. Prof. Franck Dumeignil, Deputy Director of the CNRS joint Unit of Catalysis and Chemistry of Solid (UCCS) of Lille University (France); project coordinator of several projects on chemistry, including the EuroBioRef Project for designing next generation biorefineries.

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.