Creating an Analytical Toolbox for Emission Free Pulping

Meet Julia Chrzastowska, Doctoral Researcher at Åbo Akademi — and one of the scientists building the analytical foundation of the Emission Free Pulping program.

Julia's work might not involve developing new pulping methods directly — but without it, those new methods would be flying blind.

Her research focuses on understanding exactly what happens inside wood tissue at the cellular level during pulping. Using an array of advanced microscopy, spectroscopy, and surface analysis techniques — including methods rarely seen in the wood industry — she maps how wood's structural components distribute and change at each stage of treatment.

Two methods stand out in particular. XPS and ToF-SIMS analyze the very top layer of a sample — down to a single nanometer — revealing what elements and organic compounds are present, and how they're distributed across the wood tissue. This makes it possible to observe, for example, how lignin migrates during different pulping processes.

The goal is to create a reusable analytical toolbox: a set of validated methods and workflows that EFP researchers — and future projects beyond EFP — can apply to understand what's truly happening in their samples.

Four wood species. Multiple treatment methods. One meticulous researcher building the tools that make the science possible.