Research Articles

Latest articles

Rossi, C., and Solé, A. (2025). "A systematic review on enzymatic refining of recycled fibers: A potential to be unlocked," BioResources 20(3), Page numbers to be added.Sarikaya, A. G., and Ilhan, B. (2025). "Morphological and volatile profiles of Phlomis russeliana and Phlomis armeniaca from Uludağ, Türkiye," BioResources 20(3), 5301–5314.

View our current issue

Researchpp 3289-3302Šprdlík, V., Kotradyová, V., and Tiňo, R. (2017). "Superhydrophobic coating of European oak (Quercus robur), European larch (Larix decidua), and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) wood surfaces," BioRes. 12(2), 3289-3302.Abstract Article PDF
Plant surfaces provide an unlimited source of systems for the protection of their surface against the outer environment. These systems have continuously improved over the last 400 million years of evolution. Two of the most fascinating properties of these systems are superhydrophobicity and the self-cleaning ability of several plant species. These properties are most often achieved due to the hierarchical structure of the surface in combination with a deposited blend of epicuticular waxes. In this study, a layer of n-hexatriacontane was deposited on wood surfaces via thermal evaporation, and the self-assembly ability was investigated for various wood species with differently machined surfaces. The behavior of wax crystals was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy. The impact on wettability was investigated by measuring contact angles and tilt angles. With wax deposition, a significant change of wettability was achieved, which was represented by the transition from hydrophilic to superhydrophobic surface behavior. The self-assembly ability of n-hexatriacontane resulted in an increased contact angle in all observed samples.
Researchpp 3303-3315Dušak, M., Jelačić, D., Pirc Barčić, A., and Novakova, R. (2017). "Improvements to the production management system of wood-processing in small and medium enterprises in southeast Europe," BioRes. 12(2), 3303-3315.Abstract Article PDF
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make up over 99% of all industrial enterprises in southeast Europe. A similar percentage of SMEs can be found within southeast Europe’s wood-processing and furniture manufacturing companies. This research aimed to investigate the current situation in the production management systems of SMEs in wood-processing companies in select Southeast European countries and to suggest possible improvements according to the results. A total of 30 small and medium companies from different countries in the region were surveyed to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of their production management systems. This research aimed to propose a model to create better systems within SMEs in the wood-processing branch and, therefore, achieve better production and business results. In addition, a total of 10 experts who work with management systems in wood-processing from the examined countries were surveyed with the same purpose. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis of experts’ opinions showed that the managers in small and medium enterprises for wood-processing and furniture manufacturing should pay the most attention to the conditions of the market, promotion, marketing, range of products, and product quality.
Researchpp 3316-3330Wei, S., Zhu, M., Song, J., and Peng, P. (2017). "Comprehensive characterization of biochars produced from three major crop straws of China," BioRes. 12(2), 3316-3330.Abstract Article PDF
Biochars produced from rice straw, corn straw, and wheat straw under different pyrolysis temperatures were comprehensively characterized. The results indicated that the yields of the biochars decreased for all three biochar types with the increase in pyrolysis temperature from 250 °C to 600 °C. In addition, the carbon contents of the biochars increased, and the polar acidic functional groups decreased with the increase of the pyrolysis temperature. The hemicellulose and cellulose components likely decomposed at approximately 300 °C, and more condensed and ordered aromatic carbon structures were formed in the biochars with the increase in pyrolysis temperature. The results also indicated that these three types of biochars showed many similarities in elemental composition and structure. However, some differences were also observed. This work provides important baseline information for the production of biochars from crop residues with desired properties for environmental applications.
Researchpp 3331-3339Wang, Y., Tang, C., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Lin, B., Zhu, H., and Liu, C. (2017). "Improved bleached chemical reed pulp properties using atmospheric high consistency refining," BioRes. 12(2), 3331-3339.Abstract Article PDF
The influence of atmospheric high consistency refining (AHCR) on the properties of bleached chemical reed pulp was investigated. Fiber quality, water retention value (WRV), dynamic drainage, and physical properties of handsheets were determined. The results showed that compared with low consistency refining (LCR), AHCR maintained reed pulp fiber length, had lower fines generation, produced more fiber curl and kink, and improved WRV and dynamic drainage. Compared with LCR pulp, the tear index, folding strength, and tensile energy absorption (TEA) of AHCR pulp were increased, while tensile index was maintained at the same value. A mill trial was performed to demonstrate the benefits of using AHCR, which was to improve machine runnability and to enhance the performance of the paper made from reed pulp.
Researchpp 3340-3350Li, X., Chen, W., and Dou, L. (2017). "Activated carbon prepared from Alternanthera philoxeroides biomass by one-step K2CO3 activation," BioRes. 12(2), 3340-3350.Abstract Article PDF
Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared from Alternanthera philoxeroides (AP) by K2CO3 one-step mixing activation. The effects of the mixing mass ratio of K2CO3 to AP, activation temperature, N2 flow rate, and period on the yield and specific surface area of ACs were investigated. The results showed that the surface area and pore volume of ACs were closely related to activation conditions and that the activation temperature was the main factor influencing the surface area and pore volume. The activation conditions only had a slight effect on the yield of ACs, which varied between 13.5% and 19.5%. The surface area of 1799.8 m2/g was obtained at a K2CO3 to AP mass ratio of 2:1, activation temperature of 900 °C, activation time of 2 h, and N2 flow rate of 60 cm3/min. The surface morphology of ACs were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the recovered K2CO3 was characterized with powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The SEM images of the ACs also showed that the activation temperature had an obvious effect on the porous structure.
Researchpp 3351-3370Meekum, U., and Wangkheeree, W. (2017). "Designing the epoxy adhesive formulations for manufacturing engineered woods," BioRes. 12(2), 3351-3370.Abstract Article PDF
The design of an epoxy adhesive was investigated by a 2K design of experiment (DOE). All the assigned parameters showed no significant effect for both curing and mechanical properties, except for bisphenol A (BPA), which showed a significantly negative effect on the heat distortion temperature (HDT) of the cured samples. Adding dicyandiamine (DICY) into the hardener retarded cure time and also caused an incomplete curing at room temperature. Curing at 110 °C and 150 °C post curing were the optimal conditions and 20 g of DICY with 50 g of triethylenetetramine (TETA) was optimized. Adduct obtained from aliphatic epoxy (RD108, 14.63 g) and TETA (7.71 g) were selected and employed as hardener ingredients. The incomplete crosslinking reaction was the main reason for the inferior properties at high RD108 loadings. The toughening by blending with polycarbonate (PC) was explored, and 5 phr of PC was selected. Limitation of resin/fiber infusion due to high viscosity was observed. Dilution of the solvents using ethyl acetate (EA) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) to reduce viscosity was explored. The mechanical properties of the wood samples manufactured from the EA-diluted epoxy were superior to the MEK dilution. The lower boiling point and good solubility of EA were explained.
Researchpp 3371-3386Al-Tabib, A. I., Al-Shorgani, N. K. N., Abu Hasan, H., Hamid, A. A., Kalil, M. S. (2017). "Production of acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) by Clostridium acetobutylicum YM1 from pretreated palm kernel cake in batch culture fermentation," BioRes. 12(2), 3371-3386.Abstract Article PDF
The viability of most fermentation processes is very much dependent on the cheap fermentation medium used. Palm kernel cake (PKC) is an abundant biomass generated from the palm oil processing industry that can be used as the carbon source for the growth and production of acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation (ABE) by Clostridia. In this study, ABE production from the fermentation of PKC using Clostridium acetobutylicum YM1 in a batch culture was conducted. The PKC was subjected to treatment with acids (sulphuric and hydrochloric acids), alkali (sodium hydroxide and alkaline peroxide), enzymatic hydrolysis, and hydrothermal treatment (in autoclave). The sulphuric acid-treated PKC (2% SAPKC) method produced the highest concentration of reducing sugars (30 g/L) compared with the other methods applied. The results showed that increasing the concentration of H2SO4 up to 3% decreased the amounts of generated reducing sugars to 20.4 g/L, which is about 32% less. The fermentation of 1%, 2%, and 3% SAPKC resulted in the production of ABE of 1.07, 5.72, and 3.48 g/L, respectively. This study showed that the pretreatment of PKC improved the content of fermentable sugars and subsequently enhanced the production of ABE by C. acetobutylicum YM1. This study also revealed that PKC can be regarded as a potentially low cost substrate for ABE fermentation.
Researchpp 3387-3395Hasegawa, M., Kumamoto, T., Okamura, H., Takeuchi, K., Asakura, R., and Matsumura, J. (2017). "Relationship between chemical retention and velocity of air-coupled ultrasonic waves in fire-retardant-treated wood," BioRes. 12(2), 3387-3395.Abstract Article PDF
The ultrasonic wave velocities in wood impregnated with a fire-retardant chemical were measured via a non-contact method. An air-coupled ultrasonic wave was made to propagate along the radial direction of the wood. The wave velocities in the wood samples after chemical impregnation were larger than those before impregnation. With increased chemical concentration, the relative changes in the velocities increased to a maximum of 16.3%, and these velocity changes exhibited a strong correlation with the chemical retention. These findings suggest that it is possible to evaluate the uniformity distributions of chemicals in fire-retardant-treated wood via a non-contact and nondestructive method based on air-coupled ultrasonics.
Researchpp 3396-3412Zhu, X., Yi, S., Gao, Y., Zhao, Y., and Qiu, Y. (2017). "Mechanical evaluation and XRD/TG investigation on the properties of wooden dowel welding," BioRes. 12(2), 3396-3412.Abstract Article PDF
Mechanical properties related to wooden dowel welding were studied using five different moisture content (MC) values. Birch wooden dowels and Chinese larch substrates were used in this study. A 2% MC for the wooden dowels and a 12% MC for the substrates resulted in the highest pullout resistance. A fitting analysis showed that there was a linear relationship between the pullout resistance and the different values of MC. The errors between the calculated values and the test values were less than 10%. The pullout resistance of the wooden dowel welding fit a Weibull distribution. No accurate linear relation existed between the 95% reliability pullout resistance and the different MC values. Chemical analyses were performed separately on the wooden dowel and the welding interface of a wooden dowel sample with 2% MC and a substrate with 12% MC. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the degree of crystallinity of the welding interface was 75% higher than that of the wooden dowel. Finally, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) illustrated that pyrolysis of the wood components occurred during the wooden dowel welding process.
Researchpp 3413-3424Su, X., Liu, L., Zhang, Y., Liao, Q., Yu, Q., Meng, R., and Yao, J. (2017). "Efficient removal of cationic and anionic dyes from aqueous solution using cellulose-g-p(AA-co-AM) bioadsorbent," BioRes. 12(2), 3413-3424.Abstract Article PDF
The removal of cationic methylene blue (MB) and anionic acid red 1 (AR1) dyes from aqueous solution was studied using cellulose-g-p(AA-co-AM) bio-adsorbent (CP bio-adsorbent). The CP bio-adsorbent with surface multiple functional groups and macroporous network structure was synthesized via grafting the acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM) onto cellulose molecules. The adsorption behavior of the bio-adsorbent to dyes in the aqueous solution was studied. The effects of solution pH, temperature, initial dye concentration, and contact time on the adsorption capacity of the bio-adsorbent were investigated. Due to the abundant functional groups and macroporous network structure, the CP bio-adsorbent exhibited remarkable adsorption performance for the removal of type dyes with an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 998 mg·g-1 for MB and 523 mg·g-1 for AR1. The kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption of dyes was exactly described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Comparison with other bio-adsorbents confirmed that the eco-friendly CP bio-adsorbent possessed excellent potential for water purification.

@BioResJournal

55 years ago