Surface properties of thermally treated composite wood panels

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.08.193
• Publication Date: 2017-09-01T18:30:32Z
• Authors: Catalin Croitoru; Cosmin Spirchez; Aurel Lunguleasa; Daniel Cristea; Ionut Claudiu Roata; Mihai Alin Pop; Tibor Bedo; Elena Manuela Sta...; Alexandru Pascu
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract Composite finger-jointed spruce and oak wood panels have been thermally treated under standard pressure and oxygen content conditions at two different temperatures, 180 °C and respectively 200 °C for short time periods (3 and 5 h). Due to the thermally-aided chemical restructuration of the wood components, a decrease in water uptake and volumetric swelling values with up to 45% for spruce and 35% for oak have been registered, comparing to the reference samples. In relation to water resistance, a 15% increase of the dispersive component of the surface energy has been registered for the thermal-treated spruce panels, which impedes water spreading on the surface. The thermal-treated wood presents superior resistance to accelerated UV exposure and subsequently, with up to 10% higher Brinell hardness values than reference wood. The proposed thermal treatment improves the durability of the finger-jointed wood through a more economically and environmental friendly method than traditional impregnation, with minimal degradative impact on the structural components of wood.