Water-processed wood combines high strength, shapeability and water resistance for plastic replacement

Petroleum-based plastics are widely used in everyday products, but their persistence in the environment has intensified the search for renewable alternatives that can withstand practical use. Cellulose-based materials offer an attractive option, yet their sensitivity to water and limitations in mechanical strength remain significant obstacles. A new study presents a way to address these challenges by transforming natural wood into a strong, moldable material through hydroplasticization.
Published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, the study introduces a process in which wood undergoes mild delignification before a cellulose solution is infiltrated into its porous structure. Water then facilitates shaping, while regenerated cellulose forms a physically crosslinked network with the existing wood structure. During drying, the material densifies without conventional mechanical hot-pressing. Importantly, most of the original lignin is retained, helping preserve the wood’s resistance to moisture.
The resulting hydroplastic wood achieved a tensile strength of 405.5 MPa, approximately 5.9 times that of the untreated wood used for comparison. Its wet tensile strength reached 86.7 MPa, while its water uptake after 48 hours was 54%. The material could also be folded in its hydrated state and molded into different forms, including knives, forks, plates and drinking straws. In a soil-burial test, the hydroplastic wood straw gradually fragmented within 90 days and was nearly fully degraded after six months, whereas the conventional polyethylene straw showed no observable degradation over the same period.
The researchers also used life-cycle assessment to compare the material with several petroleum-derived plastics. The analysis indicated a considerably lower carbon footprint for hydroplastic wood, although the assessment focused on manufacturing and did not include transportation, use or end-of-life treatment.
The findings suggest that retaining wood’s natural architecture while reinforcing its internal structure could provide an alternative to approaches that rely on extensive delignification or energy-intensive processing. However, industrial application will require further optimization. Variations among wood species may affect processing and performance, and uniform treatment becomes more difficult in sections thicker than 1 cm. The authors identify simplified processing, continuous impregnation, faster drying and chemical recovery as priorities for future development.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobab.2026.100306

Original Source URL

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2369969826000782

Journal

Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts