Forest Products Chemistry
The Forest Products Chemistry is a part of the Department of Forest Products Technology at Helsinki University of Technology. The objective of the laboratory is to maintain a university education and a state-of-the-art research program in forest products chemistry that meets the needs of modern pulp and papermaking.
The teaching program focuses on wood chemistry, analytical chemistry of wood components and pulp and papermaking as well as applications of surface and colloid chemistry in forest products technology. Within these fields, the laboratory also participates in the International graduate school in pulp and paper technology maintained jointly by several Finnish universities.
The main lines of the research program are the chemistry of cellulosic fibres, the chemistry of wood polysaccharides and delignification, recycling of fibers, the colloid chemistry of the wet end and the surface chemistry of coating colours. Research projects are mostly financed by governmental funds but there is an increasing industrial funding of fundamental research. To a limited extent, we also have undertaken some contract research, mainly in cases where we are available to offer unique equipment or experience.
The international contacts of the laboratory are comprised of co-operation within research projects (on an Nordic and European level), exchange of graduate students and senior scientists and lecturers and organization of international symposia. To a rather limited extent, we have been able to offer scholarships to foreign student or post-graduate scientists.
The laboratory is well supplied with equipment for chemical analysis, characterization of particle size, shape and charge, surface analysis and studies of flotation.
There are two chairs at the laboratory: physical chemistry of forest products technology and wood chemistry. In total, the staff working at the laboratory (senior scientists, senior undergraduate students, graduate students, technicians and administration) consists of about 50 people.
If you are interested in further information, please contact professor Janne Laine, professor Tapani Vuorinen or any of the staff.
A list of our most recent publications can be found on these home pages.
Tapani Vuorinen
Professor, Head of the Laboratory