Interactions between wood polymers studied by dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy

Dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy was applied to study the mechanical interactions among cellulose, xylan and glucomannan in spruce wood fibers. The understanding of these interactions is of importance in controlling the physical properties of the fibers in different processes. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the different carbohydrate polymers could be spectrally separated. These specific wavenumbers were then used to study the response of the wood polymers to a small sinusoidal tensile strain. The results showed a difference in mechanical behavior of the polymers depending on the loading direction toward the fiber axis. In parallel loading the results suggested a close cooperation between cellulose and glucomannan in the fiber wall, whereas xylan showed no mechanical interaction with cellulose.