Cellulose Laboratory

About the Laboratory

The goal of the Cellulose Laboratory is to utilize cellulose and other related natural polymers for replacing plastics and petroleum products with innovative materials, functional additives, adhesives, and other materials and products. The laboratory obtains cellulose fibers from various types of wood, plants, and agricultural residues, also working with secondary (recycled) cellulose fibers or wastepaper. The research includes fiber characterization, modification (chemical and physical), and obtaining micro and nano cellulose.

The only laboratory-scale paper machine in Latvia is used to produce paper, which is developed for packaging materials, supplemented or coated with biopolymers. The laboratory creates and studies various products containing (ligno)cellulose - packaging, sheets, composite materials, fungal mycelium-cellulose composites, as well as densified wood applications in bone implants.

Research Directions

• Obtaining and studying cellulose fibers - chemical and mechanical biomass pulping, detailed chemical and physical characterization (fiber chemical composition, degree of cellulose polymerization, fiber dimensions, shape, brightness, degree of fibrillation); cellulose and its fiber modification (purification, bleaching, chemical derivatization, mechanical fiber fibrillation into finer fibers, hydro-mechanical disintegration, and others);
• Research and development of pressed cellulose fiber products - paper, cardboard, packaging materials, and others; improving paper properties using natural polymers (nanocellulose, chitosan, etc.) as additives or coatings; 
• Testing paper and other thin materials - mechanical properties, surface properties, air permeability, optical properties;
• Obtaining microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and nanocellulose (CNC, CNF) (method development and advancement) and their application in innovative material development using various material shaping technologies - as fillers, coatings in other polymer (natural and synthetic) matrices, and composites;
• Research on packaging materials, secondary cellulose fiber (wastepaper) study, and material demonstration;
• Mycelium composites - made from 100% natural, inexpensive raw materials - fungal mycelium and local agricultural and forestry residues, such as hemp shives, straw, wood chips, as well as wastepaper, etc. The formation is based on the growth of fungal mycelium in lignocellulosic substrate - various forms and sizes of 3D materials are grown in a biological process. Physical, mechanical, thermal, and flammability properties are competitive with synthetic foam materials and commercial composites. Fully biodegradable and compostable in soil materials. An alternative to traditional packaging, insulation, and acoustic materials, as well as design objects;
• Densified wood materials for osteosynthesis bone implants - the obtained densified wood materials have bone-equivalent density, strength, and elasticity, as well as do not show toxic reaction with bone cells. Research is based on partial delignification and plasticization of wood followed by hydrothermal densification, obtaining wood material with increased density (1200-1300 kg/m3), strength, and elasticity. The developed densified wood bone implant materials are a sustainable and competitive alternative to metal osteosynthesis implants used for stabilizing and connecting bone fractures. Their elasticity is higher than that of metal implants, thereby reducing the risk of repeated fractures. The lower but bone-equivalent density and strength reduce bone resorption due to implant and bone friction.