Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Department of the Chemistry and Physics of Materials, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Morphophysics Group, Salzburg, Austria.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2021 Sep 20;379(2206):20200345. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0345. Epub 2021 Aug 2.
Trees belong to the largest living organisms on Earth and plants in general are one of our main renewable resources. Wood as a material has been used since the beginning of humankind. Today, forestry still provides raw materials for a variety of applications, for example in the building industry, in paper manufacturing and for various wood products. However, many parts of the tree, such as reaction wood, branches and bark are often discarded as forestry residues and waste wood, used as additives in composite materials or burned for energy production. More advanced uses of bark include the extraction of chemical substances for glues, food additives or healthcare, as well as the transformation to advanced carbon materials. Here, we argue that a proper understanding of the internal fibrous structure and the resulting mechanical behaviour of these forest residues allows for the design of materials with greatly varying properties and applications. We show that simple and cheap treatments can give tree bark a leather-like appearance that can be used for the construction of shelters and even the fabrication of woven textiles. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)'.
树木属于地球上最大的生物，而植物则是我们主要的可再生资源之一。木材作为一种材料，从人类文明伊始就已经被使用。今天，林业仍然为各种应用提供原材料，例如在建筑行业、纸制造业和各种木制品中。然而，树木的许多部分，如应拉木、树枝和树皮，通常作为林业残余物和废木材丢弃，用作复合材料的添加剂或燃烧以用于能源生产。树皮的更先进用途包括提取用于胶水、食品添加剂或医疗保健的化学物质，以及转化为先进的碳材料。在这里，我们认为，正确理解这些林业残余物的内部纤维结构和由此产生的机械性能，可以设计出具有极大不同性能和应用的材料。我们表明，简单而廉价的处理方法可以使树皮具有皮革般的外观，可用于建造住所，甚至制造编织纺织品。本文是特刊“新兴技术的生物衍生和仿生可持续先进材料（第 1 部分）”的一部分。
