Which societal problem is your research helping to solve?

My research helps in the development of durable, biocide-free wood materials that can be produced from local wood species. In this way, we can replace for instance pressure impregnated wood which contains toxic biocides or replace tropical wood harvested far from here.

Additionally, my research supports the future use of durable wood materials in challenging outdoor environments such as highway bridges or marine structures.

What is your research?

Specifically I investigate how we can enhance the durability of wood by changing the material chemistry in an environmentally friendly way.

What do you currently do?

I try to understand how we can limit the uptake of moisture in the wood from water vapour and rain. In the outdoor Nordic environment, wood is often degraded by decay fungi that loves moist materials. By keeping wood dry, these fungi lose their appetite for the material.

How do you investigate this?

For instance, we use micro-spectroscopy that measures the chemical fingerprint of a very small area in a material. By measuring this fingerprint in numerous locations, we can map the chemistry and moisture distribution within the wood cell walls. My focus is mainly how much moisture the cell walls can take up and how this moisture is distributed. Therefore, I work with methods to change the chemistry in wood cell walls in ways that affect their ability to take up moisture. Afterwards, we investigate how decay fungi respond to these wood materials with altered cell wall chemistry.

How did you become interested in this research area?

I was trained as a civil engineer which is where my interest for wood as building material began. During my studies I became fascinated by how moisture affects nearly all properties of wood such as strength, stiffness, durability, and many more. This curiosity has stayed with me ever since.