Extracting the fibers of cellulose from the lignin is not easy. It is like trying to remove chewing gum from hair. Delignification of wood, as the process is called, involves crunching up the wood into tiny pieces and boiling them at high temperatures and pressures with a chemical cocktail that breaks down the bonds within the lignin and frees up the cellulose fibers. Once achieved, what is left is a tangle of fibers called wood pulp: in effect, liquid wood—at a microscopic scale it resembles spaghetti in a rather watery sauce. Laying this on to a flat surface and allowing it to dry yields
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