Contractive force and transformation of microfibril with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution for wood

The mechanism of longitudinal contraction of Yezo spruce (Picea jezoensis Carr.) during treatment with aqueous NaOH solution is discussed. The contraction of wood samples increased with an increase in the concentration of NaOH solution and in heating temperature. Measurements of the stress relaxation and the twist angle during the alkali treatment showed that the alkali treatment caused the contractive and twist forces of a tracheid cell wall in longitudinal and tangential directions, depending on the components of contractive force. The temperature dependence of the contraction and the thermodynamics led to the conclusion that the longitudinal contraction of samples is due to that of microfibrils via an entropyelastic force.