Location: Nutrition, Food Safety/Quality
Project Number: 0500-00090-001-016-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2026
End Date: Aug 31, 2029
Objective:
Diversifying applications and products within the forest products industry is critical to increasing economic resilience in forest-based communities across the nation. Developing markets for novel and emerging forest products requires advancing technical concepts and applications along the research, development, and commercialization lifecycle. De-risking these technologies reduces the barriers to attracting companies for technology transfer and adoption, as well as investment for startup businesses. This cooperative agreement contains seven projects focused on novel forest products and materials with commercial relevance, addressing multiple industries and providing additional economic value for underutilized materials. The expected outcomes and deliverables of the projects are provided in the following paragraphs, with detailed project information provided in the full Cooperative Agreement proposal submitted to USDA/ARS in combination with budget details.
Thematic Area 1: Packaging and Food Systems
Focus Project 1, led by PI Qing Jin, develops a microfibrillated cellulose-based passive daytime radiative cooling sheet for food preservation, leveraging cellulose nanomaterials and silica-based additives to achieve electricity-free temperature reduction for post-harvest and supply chain applications.
Focus Project 2, led by PI Ling Li, investigates scalable dry fiber forming technology for molded food packaging, incorporating cellulose nanofibrils and bio-based barrier coatings as alternatives to PFAS and fossil-based packaging films.
Focus Project 3, led by PI Xuefeng Zhang, develops functional magnetic biochar derived from Maine forest residues for the removal and destruction of PFAS contamination from agricultural soils, integrating sorption, magnetic recovery, and flash Joule heating mineralization into a closed-loop remediation system.
Thematic Area 2: Building Materials and Insulation
Focus Project 4, led by PI Jacob Snow, evaluates the feasibility of thermally modified northeastern wood species, specifically eastern hemlock, as a value-added, chemical-free decking and siding product for the regional construction market.
Focus Project 5, led by PI Mehdi Tajvidi, develops three-dimensional protein-assisted foams from lignocellulosic materials and cellulose nanofibrils as replacements for petroleum-based Styrofoam in packaging and insulation applications.
Thematic Area 3: Cellulose and Fiber Materials
Focus Project 6, led by PI Colleen Walker, scales the production of lignin-containing cellulose nanofibrils from sawdust and wood flour using both low- and high-consistency refining, expanding feedstock options and reducing the cost of CNFs for wider adoption.
Focus Project 7, led by PI Caitlin Howell, develops biodegradable mycelial buoys and hydroponic rafts from wood-flour-based substrates, optimizing fungal growth formulations and biodegradable coatings to replace expanded polystyrene in aquaculture and controlled environment agriculture.
Approach:
Focus Project 1 (Jin): A multilayer passive radiative cooling sheet will be developed using microfibrillated cellulose, SiO2, and glycerol as the functional cooling layer, with a paper substrate for structural support and a thin PDMS barrier coating. The developed sheets will be characterized for optical, mechanical, and barrier properties. Pilot-scale manufacturing will be conducted at the PDC using roll-to-roll coating, and a techno-economic analysis will evaluate production cost and commercial feasibility.
Focus Project 2 (Li): Two types of dry fiber mat forming processes will be investigated using kraft pulp cellulose and thermomechanical refined wood fiber. The fiber mats will be structured with CNF-based skin layers to achieve air and oxygen barrier performance. Thermoforming parameters will be optimized, and bio-based binder and barrier formulation systems including modified starches, soy wax emulsions, and CNFs will be developed and validated for food-service and modified atmosphere packaging trays.
Focus Project 3 (Zhang): Magnetic biochar will be sourced from two industry partners and functionalized with Fe3O4 nanoparticles using co-precipitation methods. A factorial experimental design will evaluate biochar particle size, biochar type, soil moisture, and Fe3O4 loading on MBC recovery efficiency. The optimized MBC will then be deployed in authentic PFAS-contaminated agricultural soils from the Hunter Farm to quantify PFAS removal efficiency under controlled incubation conditions.
Focus Project 4 (Snow): Eastern hemlock lumber will be milled and kiln dried at Treeline's sawmill facility in Chester, Maine. The lumber will be shipped to TechWoods in Montana for thermal modification in a Moldrup-SSP18 hydro-thermal treatment plant, then returned to Maine for evaluation. Thermally modified specimens will be tested at UMaine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center per ICC-ES AC47 for mechanical properties, dimensional stability, and wet service performance.
Focus Project 5 (Tajvidi): A comprehensive evaluation of plant-based and animal-based proteins will identify optimal candidates for foam formation in combination with lignocellulosic substrates including TMP and wood flour. Wet foam properties will be evaluated using a Dynamic Foam Analyzer, and dry foams will be characterized for density, cell structure, mechanical properties, and thermal conductivity. Year 2 will focus on process and drying optimization to further enhance mechanical properties and water resistance of the selected foam system.
Focus Project 6 (Walker): LCNF will be produced from sawdust and wood flour at both commercial scale using low-consistency refining and laboratory scale using high-consistency refining in the KRK refiner. Pre-screening with Sweco screens and simple pretreatments including caustic soak and heating will be evaluated for their effects on processing and product properties. Produced LCNF will be characterized for surface area, fibrillation, water retention, and binding capabilities, and samples will be made available to researchers for application testing.