Measuring the Heat of Interaction between Lignocellulosic Materials and Water

<i>Research Highlights</i>: When investigating the sorption of water on lignocellulosic materials, the sorption or mixing enthalpy is an interesting parameter that, together with the sorption isotherms commonly measured, can be used to characterize and understand the sorption process. We...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martin Nopens, Lars Wadsö, Christian Ortmann, Michael Fröba, Andreas Krause
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
Series:Forests
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/8/674
Description
Summary:<i>Research Highlights</i>: When investigating the sorption of water on lignocellulosic materials, the sorption or mixing enthalpy is an interesting parameter that, together with the sorption isotherms commonly measured, can be used to characterize and understand the sorption process. We have compared different methods to assess these enthalpies. Additionally, we propose a sorption nomenclature. <i>Background and Objectives</i>: Sorption enthalpies are non-trivial to measure. We have, for the first time, measured sorption enthalpies on the same materials with four different methods, to be able to compare the method&#8217;s strengths and weaknesses. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> The following four methods were used on beech and Scots pine wood: isosteric heat, solution calorimetry, sorption calorimetry, and RH perfusion calorimetry. <i>Results</i>: The results for beech and pine were similar, and were in general agreement with the literature. We do not recommend one of the methods over the others, as they are quite different, and they can therefore be used to elucidate different aspects of the interactions between water and, for example, novel biobased materials (modified woods, cellulose derivatives, and regenerated cellulose).
ISSN:1999-4907