Wax treatment of wood slows photodegradation

Boštjan Lesar (Author), Matjaž Pavlič (Author), Marko Petrič (Author), Andrijana Sever Škapin (Author), Miha Humar (Author)

Abstract

Waxes and wax emulsions are one of the most important solutions for non-biocidal wood protection. Wax treated wood is designed for outdoor use, therefore it is of considerable importance to elucidate the influence of weathering on the photodegradation processes. It is presumed, that wax treatment will reduce water uptake and thus reduce or slow down photodegradation processes. In order to test this hypothesis, three types of wax emulsions at two different concentrations were vacuum impregnated into Norway spruce wood specimens: an emulsion of montan wax (LGE), an emulsion of polyethylene (WE1) and an emulsion of oxidized polyethylene (WE6) wax. The samples were exposed to artificial accelerated weathering (AAW) for 500 cycles. Before and after AAW colour, the contact angle of water and moisture content were determined. Chemical and morphological changes at exposed surfaces were also investigated with FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. In parallel, the uptake of wax emulsions and water into the axial surfaces of samples was determined with a tensiometer. The moisture content measurements showed that the best hydrophobic effect was achieved with LGE treated wood, where the lowest colour and FTIR changes were observed as well. These results were supported by tensiometer measurements as well. Presented data clearly showed that high loadings of waxes reduce or at least slow down weathering. Among tested waxes, montan wax was found the most effective.

Keywords

wax emulsions;contact angle;CIELAB;FTIR;water repellent;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2011
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UL BF - Biotechnical Faculty
UDC:	630*841
COBISS:	1914761
ISSN:	0141-3910
Views:	1198
Downloads:	371
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	English
Secondary keywords:	emulzija voskov;kontaktni kot;
Type (COBISS):	Not categorized
Pages:	str. 1271-1278
Volume:	ǂVol. ǂ96
Issue:	ǂno. ǂ7
Chronology:	2011
ID:	1033436