The main objective of this research was to investigate tropical wood sorptive properties. For selected tropical wood species (courbaril, ipe, light red meranti, merbau, tatajuba, and teak), the equilibrium moisture content was determined at 20 °C and 9, 30, 55, 70, and 97% relative humidity. The experimentally determined values were analysed using the Hailwood-Horrobin sorption model to compute the fibre saturation point and mono-and multi-layer sorption. There were significant differences in the sorption behaviour of different wood species. Generally, the fibre saturation point of tropical wood species is lower than in wood species from moderate climate zones. The lowest values of fibre saturation point were found for ipe (18.7%), courbaril (20.4%), and tatajuba (20.5%). Furthermore, chloroform-ethanol extractives content was correlated with multilayer sorption and the fibre saturation point, such that a higher content of chloroform-ethanol extractives was associated with a lower equilibrium moisture content. Therefore, chemisorption was not influenced by chloroform-ethanol extractives. Ethanol extracts showed an influence on monomolecular-bound water.

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The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of two machining processes on European oak wood surface characteristics. The relationships between wettability, free surface energy and machining methods were studied. Sawing and slicing, with or without sanding, were used to prepare surfaces prior to testing whether they produce surfaces with different characteristics. For the wood surfaces machined by slicing and sawing, there was a significant difference in contact angle measurements. This indicates that the influence of machining processes such as slicing and sawing on contact angle value is remarkable. Sanded surfaces showed good wettability and high process roughness.

The research was conducted on five once-blooming different origin historical roses. The aims were establishing differences in the anatomical structure of shoots taken in four maturity stages and their natural ability to roots creating. There were hypothesized, that the changes in anatomical structure occur in the time of flowering and may affect the ability of rhizogenesis. Single node one leaf cuttings of chosen cultivars were cut from shoots in four maturity phases: flower buds closed, all flowers open, just after and 7-14 days after petal fall. The cuttings were planted in multipot trays in peat substrate without using rooting stimulators. The anatomical structure of shoots in the place of rhizogenesis were observed, the width of xylem layer and cambial zone, diameter of vascular cells were measured. The percentage of rooted cuttings and forming only a callus were counted. Adventitious roots appeared probably in the cambium zone, pith rays, and also in the zone of phloem and pericycle. The anatomic structure of shoots changes during the period of flowering and influences rooting percentage and the percent of cuttings which developed callus only. The width of the cambium layer of shoots influences the width of the wood layer in all cultivars. The rise of width of cambium tissue have an effect of increase of percentage of cuttings forming a callus only in 'Hurdals' and 'Maiden's Blush'. The width of the cambium layer in shoots enlarges during full blooming in four of the studied cultivars ('Hurdals', 'Maiden's Blush', 'Mousseuse Rouge', 'Semiplena') and in one it stays at the same level for the whole duration of the experiment ('Duchesse d'Angoulême'). The specifying in practice the period of taking rose cuttings, individual properties of cultivars and phenological phase of shoot should be taken into consideration.

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The main objective of this study was to reveal variations in the wood structure and to define the location of the boundary between juvenile and mature wood Larix decidua Mill. from fast growing tree plantations. To reach these findings, the samples of wood from four short-rotation plantations in Central Europe (Poland) were selected and compared. The procedure used to determine the demarcation point between juvenile and mature wood resulted in strong correlations between the width of growth rings and the initial cambial age. It was found that the structure of wood from fast-growing trees differs from commercially available timber. The wood derived from plantations revealed wider annual rings than wood from natural forests. The analysis of the variability of wood structure resulted in defining the location of the boundary between juvenile and mature wood. Based on the analysis of structure of annual rings, the boundary of juvenile wood in fast-growing larch is placed between the 12th and 15th annual ring. The investigated material contained high proportions of juvenile wood, which makes up more than 70% of trunk volume. On the microscopic level, no visible changes, indicating the presence of a mature wood zone, were found.

The main aim of the presented research was to compare the influence of selected ageing factors, such as UV radiation and complex artificial weathering methods, on the colour, wettability and roughness changes in garapa, tatajuba, courbaril and massaranduba from South America—tropical wood species that are popular for external usage in European countries. Both processes caused wood surfaces to become darker and turn to shades of brown. The highest total colour changes were shown in courbaril wood (wood with the highest extractives content). The wood surface roughness demonstrated variation, depending on the wood section and measurement direction, and increased after ageing treatments. Changes in surface contact angle were significant after the inclusion of water and drying in the weathering process (wettability decreased). Anatomical analyses of the tested tropical woods revealed structural changes after used artificial weathering treatments (distortion between cell elements, degradation of the middle lamella, micro-cracks in cell walls, thinning and degradation of parenchyma cells, cracks along pits within vessels). As a result of desorption tension, the changes caused by UV irradiation were much smaller than those caused by full artificial weathering. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis indicated the occurrence of lignin and hemicelluloses oxidative changes after the weathering process which resulted in the formation of carbonyl and carboxyl compounds. The depolymerisation of cellulose was also identified. The results show that the observed changes may affect the long-term durability of finishes applied over wood subjected to weathering factors for a short period before finishing.

This study is primarily focused on broadening the knowledge on sorptive properties of tropical wood species. The main objective of this research was to determine the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of 17 selected tropical wood species vital to the fl ooring industry in Europe. For comparison, selected European wood species -European beech, European oak and Scots pine, were also tested. Differences in the EMC between wood from temperate and tropical zones were established, resulting in the necessity of revising the knowledge, especially in wooden fl oor production. The results show that the EMC of tropical wood species is generally lower than that of temperate region wood species. African padouk, Teak, Afzelia and Ipe showed the lowest values of moisture content. Furthermore these wood species showed the lowest values of fi bre saturation point (17.7 %, 22.5 %, 19.7 % and 18.7 %, respectively). Secondly, it was established that the basic density has signifi cant infl uence on sorption properties of tested wood species. Further to the above, it was concluded that -the higher wood basic density, the larger are the changes of dimensions. Consequently, based on the results obtained, the possibility of supplementing the recommendations in industry standards regarding wooden fl oors should be considered.