Abstract

Furfurylation process is a well-studied wood modification method. Properties such as dimensional stability, decay resistance, moisture uptake and weathering have been reported to be greatly improved after treatment. However, the main remaining challenge for this process lies in the negative impact on the mechanical properties, especially the hardness which increased significantly. This has a direct impact on the structural applications of the material. In this context, new formulations consisting of combinations of furfural alcohol (FA) mixed with epoxidised linseed oil (ELO) or vinyl acetate (VA) were prepared and impregnated into Scots pine sapwood and cured without any additional crosslinking agents. Maleic anhydride was used as catalyst for polymerisation. The impact of the treatments has been studied concerning the mechanical properties, dimensional stability and durability. The average WPGs obtained after impregnation with VA-FA and ELO-FA treatments were 37.4% and 59.7% for samples intended for dimensional stability and 40.5% and 26.4% for samples intended for mechanical tests. With the achieved WPGs, the dimensional stability was significantly improved reaching an ASE of 63.3% and 43.1% for VA-FA-treated and ELO-FA-treated samples respectively. Mass loss caused by basidiomycetes fungi was in the range between 2 to 4% for both treatments, while the untreated samples lost more than 30%. MOE was almost not affected by the treatments, while impact bending strength increased by 26% after the ELO-FA treatment and decreased by 30% after the VA-FA treatment. Brinell hardness increased only by 21% for ELO-FA treatment and 64% for VA-FA treatment. These results showed that the combination of ELO with FA could result in durable timber without significant negative effect on the mechanical properties. Moreover, no darkening of the ELO-FA samples was observed.

Keywords

epoxidized linseed oil; furfuryl alcohol; Scots pine sapwood; vinyl acetate; wood properties

Published in

Title: Proceeding of 10th Meeting of the northern European network for wood science & engineering (WSE)
Publisher: Edinburgh Napier University

Conference

10th Meeting of the Northern European network for wood science and engineering

SLU Authors

• Cai, Shengzhen

  • Department of Forest Products, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Jebrane, Mohamed

  • Department of Forest Products, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Terziev, Nasko

  • Department of Forest Products, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Wood Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/65015