FOR400Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Lignin, Ochroma, Cell Wall
Document Summary
Wood is simple at the molecular level. If you keep your wood products, you"ve sequestered carbon for a very long time. Gross structures like heartwood & sapwood & bark & juvenile wood, tension wood, compression wood. Extremely high strength to weight ratio compared to other materials. Density ranges from extremely hard and dense (lignite) to balsa. Good insulator/poor conductor of heat or electricity. Can"t have steel hydropoles, so have to use wood. Contain a variety of unique organic chemicals . The density of the cell wall is 1. 5g/cm 3. This is really dense but because of all the air in the lumen, makes the wood quite right. Cell wall is composed of 3 layers. Orientation of the microfibrils is specific for each layer. Microfibrils are bundles of cellulose molecules (approx. Macrofibrils consist of numerous cellulose microfibrils dispersed in hemicellulose and lignin. Lignin is a polyphenolic compound that glues together all the microfibrils.
