Riku Andersson 2025: Advanced NMR analytics as a tool to investigate the lignocellulose biomass for emission free pulping.: 3000 eur

The Walter Ahlström Foundation grant has had a significant impact on my research, which is part of the international Emission Free Pulping project. The first part of my research focused on the use of advanced NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) techniques to study the properties of lignocellulosic biomass. In collaboration with the NMR Research Unit of the University of Oulu, we used various NMR methods to delve deeper into the physical and chemical properties of wood. The goal was to understand how water diffuses through wood structures and how the new chemical aqueous thiourea treatment affects this phenomenon. This research goes beyond traditional physicochemical characterization methods and investigates wood phenomena, such as the changes in water movement in different chemical environments. This approach not only increases our understanding of wood chemistry, but also opens up new possibilities for developing new types of sustainable and efficient pulping methods. The goal is to optimize these methods to create high-quality fibers with minimal environmental impact, which is also in line with the project’s goals of promoting emission-free pulp manufacturing. 

Key results from the study include the effectiveness of the new water-based thiourea method as an effective chemical treatment for wood, also with a short reaction time, using a low temperature of approximately 100 °C. Based on the fiber analysis results, the thiourea treatment produced similar results to the Kraft process and the fibers were comparable to each other. NMR techniques, which have previously been utilized, for example, in the analysis of historical wood samples, could be effectively applied to the study of the properties and structure of chemically processed wood, such as the determination of pore size and compositional changes.

In summary, the information obtained from the study is important for optimizing fiber manufacturing processes and implementing the next phase of the research. 

Figure 1. Wood samples before and after chemical treatment.