“In collaboration with our partners, we will be demonstrating the immense potential of wood foam in industrial applications at this year’s Hannover Messe. The utilization of wood foam as a structural element in the door is an example of the versatile range of application possibilities offered by this material. It can be combined with classic wood-based materials, metals, concrete, plastics or even WPC as a top layer. As a result, lightweight hybrid materials with greater functionality can be created. Such sandwich materials can also be used, for example, in automotive construction, as furniture panels or as façade elements,” reported Dr. Nina Ritter, Group Leader at the Fraunhofer WKI.

In order to demonstrate the layer structure of the wood foam, the researchers from the Fraunhofer WKI, in collaboration with Butterweck Holzstoffe GmbH & Co. KG, will be presenting a door from Rodenberg Türsysteme AG that has been cut open lengthwise. Butterweck Holzstoffe supplies Rodenberg Türsysteme with wood-foam panels for the biodegradable front-door infill “Organic Door Panel”. This is made entirely from plant-based raw materials. The infill is 100 percent recyclable.

Butterweck Holzstoffe GmbH & Co. KG markets the wood foam under the brand name LIGNEW. Delivery of the first wood-foam panels is expected to take place in 2028. The researchers at the Fraunhofer WKI will continue to support Butterweck Holzstoffe GmbH & Co. KG in an advisory capacity.

Within the framework of an internal preliminary research project, the Fraunhofer WKI developed the innovative process in which foams are produced from pure wood or wood fibers. During the cooperation with Butterweck Holzstoffe GmbH & Co. KG, the focus was directed upon the transfer to industrial processing. In recent years, the project partners have, for example, worked on developing wood foam into a market-ready panel material. 

The wood foams developed at the Fraunhofer WKI are comprised of 100% wood, as they do not require any binding agents. They are a lightweight wood-based material (density 45 to 200 kg/m³) with an open-pored structure. Their strength results from the wood’s own binding forces, as a result of which the utilization of synthetic adhesives is not necessary. From an ecological and economic point of view, wood foams are ideally suited for a vast range of applications, for instance as packaging material or as thermal and acoustic insulation. They can be easily recycled.