Publisher's Synopsis
The continued utilization of wood and its products has forced a re-evaluation of the whole industry on three fronts; the need for renewing sources of cellulose, the requirement for effective disposal of unused byproducts from processing woody materials, and the search for greater and more extensive utilization of all the components of wood. This book addresses these topics, presenting selections by authors from industry, research institutes and academia.;Contributions on the basic aspects of cellulose concentrate on the important developments of dissolution methods. Chapters on pulp and paper technology attend to the major developments under way in the use of simpler, economic and milder methods for the dispersion of the films. Wood derivations, composites and laminates demand new chemical treatments to make them more durable and a number of chapters demonstrate new ways to achieve this approach to improve cellulose.;The field of derivitizations of cellulose is vast, and the chapters on the various forms of chemically modified celluloses stress their individual applications. Underlying this work is a plethora of specialized analytical processes for characterization of these macromolecules.;Finally, attention is given to the biological processes being worked on cellulosics. The chapters in this section illustrate the variety of materials which can be produced from enzymic conversion of phytomas, and illustrate the potential for further development in producing new sorts to existing chemicals.
