Our society is entering a new era where the efficient use of sustainable, ecologically compatible materials and energy will begin to shape our economy and daily lives.  Agricultural products have historically provided both materials and energy, most notably in the form of wood. Wood is composed of three basic polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which are organized and assembled on the molecular to macro scales creating a unique socially and economically important natural material. Cellulose is the world's most abundant polymer, exhibiting the exceptional mechanical properties of strength and elasticity. Wood is the basic raw material for the forest products industry, a $240 billion dollar per year industry employing over 1.1 million people in America alone. Although the nanostructure of wood and other plant materials has been studied scientifically for some time, only very recently have researchers begun to apply nanoscale engineering to the assembly, disassembly and fundamental understanding of cellulosic materials.

The Center for NanoCellulosics brings the education, research and laboratory infrastructure strengths of Penn State to the local and global lignocellulosic materials community with the goal of enabling new materials research and product development for a sustainable future.

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