Nishiyama Yoshiharu’s conference on « Thermodynamics and the molecular description of swelling work of wood »!
The  Renewable Materials Research Center invites you to Nishiyama Yoshiharu’s conference, entitled «Thermodynamics and molecular description of wood swelling work», to be held on Friday, March 15, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Room 1350 of the Gene-H.-Kruger Pavilion, at Laval University, in Quebec City . The conference will be in English and in presence. Welcome to all!
Summary of the conference « Thermodynamics and molecular description of wood swelling »
Woody cell wall shrinks when dried and expands when swollen by water, in the direction perpendicular to the dominant microfibril direction. This macroscopic deformation has practical implications in the daily use of wood and the potential to be a passive actuation driver. However, quantitative estimations of the potential work of swelling are rare. How much work can a piece of wood exert by simple swelling, and what is driving such swelling at the molecular level? To answer these questions, I will discuss the classical thermodynamics of swelling and the molecular interaction energies among water and wood components.
About the speaker
Nishiyama Yoshiharu, directeur de recherche au Centre national de recherche scientifique (CNRS), Centre de recherche sur les macromolécules végétales (CERMAV), Grenoble, France. His research focuses on the study and modeling of molecular interactions and material structures, using the X-ray/neutron diffraction technique. More specifically, his work focuses on crystal structure refinement of polysaccharides using X-ray/neutron fiber diffraction; wood higher order structure and its modification, and bridging molecular modeling and experimental data.
This event is organized by the  Renewable Materials Research Center
If you have any questions about the event, please contact Besma Bouslimi (besma.bouslimi@sbf.ulaval.ca)