Dr. Lei Han, InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM researcher attended the IRG57 – The International Research Group on Wood Protection Scientific Conference in Beijing, China.

He delivered a short oral presentation and presented a poster titled: “Contact Charring of Underutilized Poplar for End-Grain Flooring”. The study explores contact surface charring as a bio-based surface-modification approach for upgrading underutilized poplar for end-grain flooring applications. The results showed that contact charring can create a distinctive darker appearance, reduce the initial wettability of poplar end-grain, and, under selected treatment conditions, improve surface hardness.

These findings highlight the potential of surface charring to support the development of higher-value wood products from underutilized hardwood resources.

This study was done in the frame of WoDeFi project.