Natalja Savest

In engineered wood production, the wood goes through many process steps, which affect both the wood and the final product quality. Holistic studies on the co-effect of these processes on adhesive bond quality are lacking. Despite a 20 year old theoretical basis to understand poor adhesion and adhesive testing variability, the tools to understand the impact on surface defects on bond quality are underdeveloped, resulting in uncontrolled bonding conditions, high variances, and slow technical progress. In addition, the fire resistance of engineered wood structures is investigated. Design and assessment methods are improved, and their scope widened to new innovative wood products based on experimental studies and thermo-mechanical simulations. This will accelerate the implementation of bio-based adhesives, improving the competitiveness and safety of the engineered wood products and promoting the utilization of low-quality wood species.

In the course of the project, the possibilities of using various materials produced by the chemical valorization of cellulose for the collection of electrical energy using the triboelectric method are investigated. In the Laboratory of Biopolymer Technology of Tallinn University of Technology, cellulose derivatives are prepared and nanofibrous non-woven materials are produced from them by electrospinning. The main physical properties of non-woven materials are determined. Project partner RISE constructs triboelectric devices from the non-woven materials and evaluates their ability to produce electricity.