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SALZBURG UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES – FOREST PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGY & TIMBER CONSTRUCTIONS DEP.

Salzburg University of Applied Sciences has participated to InCIMa4 projects with three laboratories dedicated on techniques for processing and analysing of natural raw materials (e.g. wood, straw, bark, etc). The research in the field of Materials, Material Development & Material Characterisation is focused on the further development of existing wood and natural fibre materials and the creation of new material combinations with biogenic materials. One research focus of this department is the development of new materials taking ecological aspects into account as well as the analysis, further development and optimisation of the properties of existing wood-based materials and their surfaces as well as the application of intelligent resource use. This includes  the investigation of new composite materials, the development, qualification and testing of new thermal insulation materials based on renewable raw materials, the development and investigation of innovative material functions (e.g. multifunctional surfaces) the evaluation of possibilities for the use of valuable materials (e.g. process water waste in pulp & paper production). In the above-mentioned areas, advanced developments focus on new preparation techniques to recycle materials. The properties of wood-based materials and wood species are investigated and the characteristics of the materials are also characterised. In addition, reliable test methods for quality determination as well as methods for processing solid wood and wood-based materials are determined. The investigations and results in the field of solid wood are intended to show new potentials of known and little researched wood species in order to open up new fields of application. Intelligent resource management is becoming increasingly important. Research projects in this area deal with questions of sustainability, the eco-effectiveness of products, the use of the cradle to cradle principle for a sustainable timber industry, questions of the recovery of valuable materials from production residues as well as questions in the field of woody biomass. Application of physical, chemical and mechanical material testing techniques

Based on the material properties innovative products can be developed for new applications. At the macro scale of materials and products the physical, chemical and mechanical properties are analysed. Such as the chemical composition, water absorption and thermal conductivity of biogenic materials and the mechanical properties of solid materials (e.g. low-density foams and/or high-density panels). Also the change of material properties during the product life-time can be simulated with an artificial weathering device.

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UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG – Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials

RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY LAB

Raman spectroscopic characterization of organic and inorganic substances and materials:

Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive vibrational spectroscopic method based on the interaction of light with the electron shell. The measured spectrum of the scattered light contains information about inorganic and organic molecular bonds and about functional groups which set up the molecular structure of the investigated substance or material, which can be either in the form of solids, liquids, or powders. From the Raman spectrum one can obtain qualitative and quantitative information for the chemical identification of substances and materials, for the characterization of the structure of molecules and crystal lattices, and for the characterization of the influence of external parameters (temperature, concentration, pressure) on the sample.
Raman spectroscopy is increasingly used for identification and characterization of substances and materials in the fields of materials science, chemistry, life science, geological science, gemology, forensics, archaeology, and arts. It is also increasingly used for quality assessment and for in-situ process monitoring, e.g. in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, in the polymers and plastics industry, in the paper industry, etc. The availability of three different Raman spectrometers in the Core Facility Spectroscopy at the University of Salzburg allows the study and the characterization of macroscopic and microscopic samples of organic and inorganic materials in form of liquids, solids, or powders. Additionally, Raman mapping allows the collection of vibrational spectroscopic information out of 2-dimensional sample areas up to a maximum size of 5 cm x 7.5 cm, with a spatial resolution down to the micrometer range. Either no or only minor sample preparation is needed. Also aqueous samples can be measured due to the minor contribution of water to the overall Raman signal of the sample.

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