Densified wood is a promising engineered wood product, especially for heavy-duty applications. This study optimized the temperature and duration of the thermo-hygromechanical (THM) densification process applied to sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) wood. The response variables studied were compression set recovery and hardness. The THM densification process was performed at three temperatures (180°C, 200 °C, and 220 °C), densification times (450 s, 900 s, and 1350 s), and posttreatment times (900 s, 1350 s, and 1800 s). Response surface methodology was used to analyze the impact of the three parameters. The effect of temperature on the density profile across thickness was also determined. The results suggested that the optimum densification conditions resulting in high hardness and low compression set recovery were obtained at a temperature of 180 °C, a densification time of 1004 s, and a post-treatment time of 1445 s. Additionally, the density of the densified samples was relatively homogeneous across thickness, although it was dramatically increased compared with control samples. However, density did not increase linearly with temperature. A much higher weight loss occurred at 220 °C, resulting in a significant decrease in density and hardness, whereas little compression set recovery was observed for sugar maple densified at this temperature.
Effects of heat and steam were investigated relative to the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of thermo-hygromechanically-densified sugar maple wood (Acer saccharum Marsh.). The densification process was performed at four temperatures (180 °C, 190 °C, 200 °C, and 210 °C) with and without steam. The hardness, bending strength, bending stiffness, and compression set recovery of the control and densified samples were determined. The effects of heat and steam on the density profile of the samples across thickness were also investigated. The results suggested that the effects of steam on the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of sugar maple wood were more important than that of heat’s influence. Compared to the samples densified without steam, the samples densified with steam showed higher values for hardness, bending strength, bending stiffness, compression set, and density, but much lower compression set recovery when treatment temperature was below 200 °C. High temperature combined with steam contributed to decreased compression set recovery. The lowest compression set recovery was obtained after the first swelling/drying cycle for all of the treatments. A higher weight loss occurred at 210 °C, which resulted in a noticeable decrease of wood density.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of heat and steam on the chemical properties of thermo-hygromechanical (THM)-densified sugar maple wood. The THM densification process was performed at two different temperatures (180 °C and 200 °C) with and without steam. The functional groups, surface chemical composition and internal structure and components of the control and densified samples were investigated using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The obtained results suggest that the THM densification treatment resulted in significant chemical changes on the wood surface. The results of the ATR-FTIR spectra confirmed the decomposition of hemicelluloses and the relative increase of cellulose and lignin contents on the wood surface. The Py-GC/MS and XPS results show an increase of the oxygen/carbon atomic (O/C) ratio, which indicated that chemical substances containing oxygenated functionality were formed through the densification process. The densification treatment favored the depolymerization of hemicelluloses and cellulose as indicated by an increased anhydrous sugar (levoglucosan) release during the pyrolysis process. Densification also facilitated the cleavage of the lignin side chains, resulting in increased phenyl units with short chains released during the pyrolysis process.
This work describes a water repellent ultra-low density fiberboard (ULDF) prepared by chlorinated paraffin nanoemulsion (CPNE). Compared with the untreated ULDF, the contact angle of ULDF treated with 150 mL of CPNE increased from 40° to 134°, while its apparent surface free energy decreased from 24.19 mN/m to 10.06 mN/m. Moreover, the water absorbance of ULDF treated with CPNE decreased from 88.2% to 24% in the first hour. The improved hydrophobicity and hygroscopicity of ULDF was supported by the presence of a film on the surface of fibers, as observed by environmental scanning electron microscopy. The occurrence of chlorine and the chemical structure changes in ULDF before and after CPNE treatment were also confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy respectively. This ULDF with enhanced water repellency is a promising insulation material.
Particles from waste laminated particleboards were recovered using various thermo-hydrolytic treatments. The size distribution and three main chemical properties, such as pH, buffer capacity, and nitrogen content of the control and resulting particles were determined. The effects of treatment temperature and duration on the chemical properties of recycled particles were investigated. The effects of the resulting particles on the gel time of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin were also measured. The test results suggested that the pH of particles after hot water soaking pre-treatment and the different thermo-hydrolytic treatments increased to different extents, with the exception of the particles treated at 140 °C for 50 min and 160 °C for 20 min. The acid buffer capacity and base buffer capacity of particles treated at 140 °C for 50 min and 160 °C for 20 min had no statistical difference, but they were much higher than those of other types of treated particles. A high treatment temperature facilitated the decomposition of wood polymers and UF resin. Both temperature and treatment duration had significant effects on pH, acid buffer capacity, and base buffer capacity of wood particles. Wood particles recycled at a high temperature had a negative effect on the gel time of UF resin.
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