Influence of Heat Treatment and Tannin Impregnation on Boron Depletion and Wood Durability

Abstract

Heat treatment (HT) of a mixture of tannins and inorganic boron compounds showed effective results against wood decay organisms. Boron compounds play a critical role in the preservation of wood against wood decay organisms. The use of tannins and HT represents a relatively new environmentally friendly approach to the wood preservation industry. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tannin impregnation and HT on boron depletion, and termite and fungi resistance. Southern yellow pine (SYP) and yellow-poplar (YP) cube samples were used for this study. A mixture of condensed tannins from the Quebracho tree and disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) was injected into the specimens using a vacuum/pressure cycle, and the specimens were then heat-treated under N 2 atmosphere for four hours at 190 • C to investigate both the tannin's fixative ability to reduce boron leaching and the performance of the mixture against brown and white-rot fungi and termites. Tannins restricted boron leaching in 46% and 34% for SYP and YP, respectively, and also significantly increased the resistance against white-rot fungi for YP. Tannins and HT showed unpredictably good performance against termites. Tannins may be acting to denature proteins; in that case, fungal enzymes would be inhibited. This study revealed the importance of HT on a mixture of boron and tannins to decrease boron leaching and increase the durability of preservative systems.products is limited because of boron's natural solubility in water, which leads to a rapid depletion of treated wood in outdoor exposed conditions [7][8][9][10][11][12].Research has been conducted to address boron depletion. The most common strategies for reducing boron leaching are surface and envelope treatments, wood bulking, the use of water repellant, organo-boron compounds, a combination of biocides and non-biocidal agents, metallo-borates, stabilized boro-esters, protein borates, in situ polymerization and boron silicates [13][14][15][16][17][18][19].Previous research has shown the potential of boron fixation by tannin auto condensation. The authors in [20] described a mechanism in which boric acid was partly fixed to a condensed tannin network with boron mobility being maintained. The authors in [21] leached a mixture of tannins and boron for 80 h. After the leaching period, a 30% loss of boron occurred. The trend of increased leaching continued as the experiment progressed.The effectiveness of tannins toward fixing boron under high temperatures and for longer leaching periods has not yet been investigated. In addition, little research has been done regarding boron's efficacy on multiple wood species. Broadening this spectrum is relevant in order to improve durability across the widely varying range of species and characteristics of wood [22][23][24].In this study, a solution of disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) and condensed tannins were pressure and heat-treated into southern yellow pine and yellow-poplar with the aim of reducing boron leaching. In addition, performance ...

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