Many protective treatments for low density wood are applied by impregnation to give waterrepellency and to control pathologies that usually have this substrate. The properties of Araucaria angustifolia, chemically modified by impregnation with methyltriethoxysilane, n-octyltriethoxysilane and mixtures of both in several ratios, were investigated to achieve mainly high dimensional stability, low capillary water absorption as well as satisfactory water vapor permeability. The aforementioned impregnants produce the wood chemical modification, involving the reaction of hydroxyl groups of the wood with the hydrolysis products of alcoxysilanes. It is concluded that the organosilicon polymers allow improving important characteristics of wood: 1) the non-occlusive coating keeps the water vapor permeability unaltered; 2) the alkoxysilane type defines the hydrophobicity and the continuity of coating formed on the pore wall and finally; 3) the polymeric structure formed after finishing solgel process incises both on the capillary water absorption and the dimensional stability. In addition, the studied treatments have the advantage of allowing that the water vapor, which permeates through the orga-nosilicon coating placed on cell wall, can exit by hydrophobic repulsion and thus, prevent faults appearance generated by the condensed water inside of wood.
Zhu, Y., Wang, W. and Cao, J. (2014) Improvement of Hydrophobicity and Dimensional Stability of Thermally Modified Southern Pine Wood Pretreated with Oleic Acid. BioResources, 9, 2431-2445. https://doi.org/10.15376/biores.9.2.2431-2445
Samyn, P., Stanssens, D., Paredes, A. and Becker, G. (2014) Performance of Organic Nanoparticle Coatings for Hydrophobization of Hardwood Surfaces. Journal of Coatings Technology and Research May, 11, 461-471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-014-9576-9
Petric, M.P., Knehtl, B., Krause, A., Militz, H., Pavlic, M., Pétrissans, M., Rapp, A., Tomazic, M., Welzbacher, C. and Gérardin, P. (2007) Wettability of Waterborne Coatings on Chemically and Thermally Modified Pine Wood. Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, 4, 203-206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-007-9023-2
Wang, X., Chai, Y. and Liu, J. (2013) Formation of Highly Hydrophobic Wood Surfaces Using Silica Nano-particles Modified with Long-Chain Alkylsilane. Holzforschung, 394, 97-112.
Chen, H., Miao, X., Feng, Z. and Pu, J. (2014) In Situ Polymerization of Phenolic Methylolurea in Cell Wall and Induction of Pulse—Pressure Impregnation on Green Wood. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 53, 9721-9727. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie5006349
Lang, Q., Zeng, B. and Pu, J.W. (2014) Characterization of Chemical Wood Modification with Melamine-Urea-Formaldehyde Prepolymer on Fast-Growing Wood. Wood and Fiber Science, 46, 1-11.
Yeh, A.I., Huang, Y.C. and Chen, S.H. (2010) Effect of Particle Size on the Rate of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose. Carbo-hydrate Polymers, 79, 192-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2009.07.049
Ostlund, A., Kohnke, T., Nordstierna, L. and Nyden, M. (2010) NMR Cryoporometry to Study the Fiber Wall Structure and the Effect of Drying. Cellulose (Dordrecht, Neth.), 17, 321-328.
Carpita, D., Sabularse, D., Montezinos, D. and Delmer, P. (1979) Determination of the Pore Size of Cell Walls of Living Plant Cells. Science, 205, 1144-1147. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.205.4411.1144
Davison, B.H., Parks, J., Davis, M.F. and Donohoe, B.S. (2013) Plant Cell Walls: Basics of Structure, Chemistry, Accessibility and the Influence on Conversion. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester.
Xie, Y., Krause, A., Militz, H., Steuernagel, L. and Mai, C. (2013) Effects of Hydrophobation Treatments of Wood Particles with an Amino Alkylsiloxane Co-Oligomer on Properties of the Ensuing Polypropylene Composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 44, 32-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2012.08.011
Daud, N. and Shanks, R. (2014) Epoxy-Silica Composites Replicating Wood Cell Structure. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 62, 11-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2014.03.013
Canosa, G., Alfieri, P.V. and Giudice, C.A. (2011) Nano Lithium Silicates as Non-Flammable Impregnants for Pinusradiate. Journal of Fire Sciences, 29, 431-441. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734904111404652
Giudice, C.A., Alfieri, P.V. and Canosa, G. (2013) Decay Resistance and Dimensional Stability of Araucaria angustifolia Using Siloxanes Synthesized by Sol-Gel Process. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 83, 166-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2013.05.015
Canosa, G., Alfieri, P.V. and Giudice, C.A. (2013) Dimensional Stability, Fire Performance and De-cay Resistance in Wood Impregnated with Alkylalkoxysilanes. International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology, 3, 394-400.
Altun, S., Ayhan, O.A., Senel, A., Baysal, E. and Toker, H. (2010) Effects of Silica Gel on Leaching Resistance and Thermal Properties of Impregnated Wood. Wood Research, 55, 101-112.
Chen, H., Lang, Q., Bi, Z., Miao, X., Li, Y. and Pu, J. (2013) Impregnation of Poplar Wood (Populuseuramericana) with Methylolurea and Sodium Silicate Sol and Induction of in Situ Gel Polymerization by Heating. Holzforschung, 68, 45-52.
Cui, G., Liu, J., Chen, C., Li, C. and Shi, L. (2012) Study on Silane Impregnation for Protection of High Performance Concrete. Procedia Engineering, 27, 301-307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2011.12.456
Christodoulou, C., Goodier, C.I., Austin, S.A., Webb, J. and Glass, G.K. (2013) Long-Term Performance of Surface Impregnation of Reinforced Concrete Structures with Silane. Construction and Building Materials, 48, 708-716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.07.038
Johannes Karl Fink (2013) Silicones Reactive Polymers Fundamentals and Applications, Chapter 8, A Concise Guide to Industrial Polymers. A Volume in Plastics Design Library, 2nd Edition.
Ferrero, F. and Periolatto, M. (2013) Application of Fluorinated Compounds to Cotton Fabrics Via Sol-Gel. Applied Surface Science, 275, 201-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.01.001
Whelan, M., Cassidy, J. and Duffy, B. (2013) Sol-Gel Sealing Characteristics for Corrosion Resistance of Anodisedalu-Minium Surface and Coatings Technology, 235, 86-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.07.018
Meng, X. and Ragauskas, A.J. (2014) Recent Advances in Understanding the Role of Cellulose Accessibility in Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Lignocellulosic Substrates. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 27, 150-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2014.01.014
Devi, R.R., Maji, T.K. and Banerjee, A.N. (2004) Studies on Dimensional Stability and Thermal Properties of Rubber Wood Chemically Modified with Styrene and Glycidyl Methacrylate. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 93, 1938-1945. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.20657
Hill, C.A.S. (2006) In Wood Modification Chemical, Thermal and other Processes. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470021748
Pandey, K.K. and Nagaveni, H.C. (2009) Study of Dimensional Stability, Decay Resistance, and Light Stability of Phenylisothiocyanate Modified Rubberwood. BioResources, 4, 257-267.
Papadopoulos, A.N., Militz, H. and Pfeffer, A. (2010) The Biological Behaviours of Pine Wood Modified with Linear Chain Carboxylic Acid Anhydrides against Soft Rot Fungi. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 64, 409-412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2010.04.002
Sonowal, J. and Gogoi, P.K. (2010) Dimensional Stability, Thermal Degradation and Termite Resistant Studies of Chemically Treated Wood. International Journal of Chemistry, 2, 218-225. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijc.v2n2p218
Wu, G., Lang, Q., Chen, H. and Pu, J. (2012) Physical and Chemical Performance of Eucalyptus Wood with Impregnated Chemicals. BioResources, 7, 816-826.
Liu, C., Wang, S., Shi, J. and Wang, C. (2011) Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Wood Surfaces via a Solution-Immersion Process. Applied Surface Science, 258, 761-765. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.08.077