Research Articles

Laboratory leaching test procedures usually call for the use of distilled or deionized water; however, treated wood is generally exposed to different types of water, soil, and weather conditions. Thus, factors such as salinity, hardness, pH, temperature etc. might be important in the release of different amounts of biocide compounds. This study evaluates the release of the sodium salt of the calcium precipitating and wood preserving agent N’N-hydroxynapthalimide (NHA) from treated wood specimens exposed to different types of leaching media. Scots pine wood specimens were treated with NHA at three different solution strengths. Treated specimens were then leached with distilled water, tap water, rain water, synthetic sea water, natural sparkling water, or 1% CaCO3 solutions for 2 weeks. Leaching with higher ion concentrations reduced NHA losses from the specimens in comparison with that of distilled water and rain water leaching trials. Microscopic evaluations were in good accordance with the results from leaching trials, revealing NHA precipitation onto the tori of pit elements and tracheids. In distilled water and rain water leaching trials, less NHA precipitation on to the tori of pit membranes and tracheid surfaces was observed, whilst the specimens leached with tap water, 1% CaCO3, sea water, and sparkling water showed higher NHA precipitations on the cell elements. We conclude that the leaching of NHA from treated wood can be decreased by precipitation with ions coming from tap water, sea water, sparkling water, and 1% CaCO3 solutions as leaching media rather than distilled water or rain water with no or much less ion composition.

Besides other ligno-cellulosic materials such as straw, rice husks, or bagasse, wet blue particles from leather production are a promising new raw material stock for wood-based panels, as they offer not only a high availability, but increase the properties of the panel with regard to fire resistance or mechanical characteristics. A panel with a mixture of 42.5% wood fibers, 42.5% wet blue leather particles, and 15% lignin adhesive was produced, and an inhomogeneous sample was prepared. An area of 9 x 10 mm was rasterized and scanned by means of Raman Spectroscopy. Furthermore, the reference spectra of the constituents, i.e. wood fiber, wet blue leather particle, and lignin powder were recorded. The obtained data were treated and analyzed using chemometric methods (principal components analysis PCA and cluster analysis). An important finding was that the reference data were not directly represented in the panels’ spectra, and the correlation matrix of the PCA was not applicable to the panel data. This indicated that chemical changes might take place during the pressing. After processing the panel Raman spectra with the help of PCA and cluster analysis, three distinctive clusters were obtained, discriminating wood, leather, and mixed regions. With the assigned spectral information, it was possible to create a spectral image of the surface.

Two hyperbranched polyglycerols (HBPGs) and one oligoglycerol containing bisphenol A in the core of the molecule were synthesized from glycerol carbonate and applied as polyols in 2-component polyurethane adhesive systems. It was shown that mechanical performance of the joints made in solid wood depended on the hydroxyl functionality of the polyglycerol as well as on the type of the isocyanate used as a cross-linker. The shear strengths of the best-performing joints exceeded that of the substrate. Eventually, it was proved that hyperbranched polyglycerols might be convenient glycerol-derived raw materials for polyurethane adhesives.

The antitermitic activityof different extracts obtained from Tectona grandis L.f was investigated against Coptotermes curvignathus (Holmgren). The main objective of this work was to determine the mortality rate of termites by the teak wood extracts. Different extracts exhibited different degree of antitermitic activity. A teak wood with age of 39-59 years and 59-79 years were selected from Purwakata and Cepu regions of Indonesia, respectively. As per earlier reports, quinones are considered as toxic to termites, and these quinones are found in abundance in teak wood. Among the extracts of petroleum ether, acetone/water (9:1), and ethanol/water (8:2), the acetone/water (9:1) extracts exhibited strong activity. The surface morphology of extracted wood samples was observed by scanning electron microscopy in order to reveal evidence of change.

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in using high-yield pulp (HYP) as a partial replacement for hardwood bleached kraft pulp (HWBKP) in the production of high-quality fine papers as a cost-effective way of improving the product performance. This study investigated the substitution of HYP for HWBKP and its effect on the Alkenyl Succinic Anhydride (ASA) sizing performance. The results showed that the substitution of an aspen HYP for HWBKP can increase the ASA sizing performance at a HYP substitution as high as 15 to 20%. The ASA addition sequence has an influence on the ASA sizing performance and first adding ASA to the HYP followed by mixing with kraft pulps was the preferred method. Using precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) as a paper filler at a dosage of less than 20% can increase the ASA sizing performance due to the contribution of the calcium soap of the hydrolysed ASA. A PCC dosage greater than 20% resulted in a negative impact on the sizing performance. It was also found that different PCC loading sequences can also affect the ASA sizing performance.

To investigate the optical properties of chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) from Eucalyptus , one group of samples of CTMP was aged by heating, and another group was first subjected to bleaching with different bleaching agents, and then aging by exposure to sunlight. Chromophores were analyzed using diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectra (DRUV), and the brightness and color parameters (L*, a*, b*) were analyzed using colorimetry. Results showed that the color reactions of the pulp, upon heating, were enhanced in the presence of moisture. There was a linear relationship between the pulp initial moisture content (MC) and the intensity of UV-Vis absorption. The contribution of different chromophores to pulp color was analyzed with the help of bleaching agents: , , and sodium borohydride. Sodium borohydride and hydrogen peroxide treatments resulted in a decrease in the absorption band at 280 nm along with the shoulder near 320 nm, which could be attributed to conjugated C=O and C=C systems. Similarly, sodium dithionite treatment also led to a decrease in absorption of the carbonyls and double bonds conjugated with aromatic double bonds. The chromaticity parameters of bleached pulp increased after exposure to sunlight. A correspondingly higher concentration of quinoid structures was found.

This study aimed at assessing the biobleachability of soda pulps obtained from olive tree pruning residue. The enzymatic (LMS) pre-treatment was applied prior to a simple totally chlorine free (TCF) bleaching sequence, consisting of an alkaline extraction and a hydrogen peroxide stage. Additionally, the effect of adding xylanase jointly with or prior to LMS was evaluated. All of these enzymatic pre-treatments were associated with an enhancement of the bleaching sequence. The best results were found when both enzymes were applied in the same stage: lowest hydrogen peroxide consumption (63 percent); kappa number, 11.6; brightness, 46 percent ISO. The mechanical properties observed were similar to those reported by other authors who have studied pulps from olive tree pruning residue. Finally, bleached pulps were subjected to accelerated ageing in order to assess the evolution of brightness and colorimetric properties. Although biobleached pulps showed lower stability upon ageing, the best optical properties, even after ageing, were observed in pulps treated with both xylanase and laccase.

Coconut bagasse, an agricultural solid waste was used as biosorbent for the removal of cadmium after modification with thiourea. The adsorption of Cd2+ was studied at pH 5.5. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms were used to model the adsorption equilibrium data, and it was found that the system followed the Langmuir and Temkin isotherms. The adsorption capacity of the biosorbent was found to be 35.97 mg g-1, which is higher or comparable to the adsorption capacity of various adsorbents reported in literature. Kinetic studies showed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order rate model.

Compression under the effect of heat and steam, also called thermo-hygromechanical (THM) densification, can increase wood density and therefore improve its strength, stiffness, and hardness. Oil-heat treatment (OHT) is also known to reduce wood’s hygroscopicity and improve dimensional stability. A combination of both treatments can therefore produce wood with improved mechanical properties and dimensional stability. The objective of this project was to determine cell wall mechanical properties of THM-densified and OHT wood. Trembling aspen veneers were densified by a THM process and subsequently treated in canola oil at 200 and 220°C. Nanoindentations were performed in earlywood cell walls. The results show that cell wall longitudinal modulus of elasticity increased significantly from 13.5 GPa for the control to a maximum of 18.2 GPa for THM densified wood with or without OHT. Cell wall hardness increased from 0.27 GPa to a maximum of 0.43 GPa. Both THM densification and OHT significantly increased cell wall hardness. Therefore, the increase in mechanical properties of THM-densified and OHT wood can be due to an increase in wood density resulting from a reduction in porosity but also to an increase in the mechanical properties of the cell wall.

In the present study, coconut husk was employed as biomass feedstock for production of bioethanol, due to its abundance in Malaysia. Due to the complex structures of coconut husk, a pretreatment process is crucial in extracting fermentable sugars from the embedded cellulose matrix for subsequent ethanol fermentation process. The ground coconut husk was subjected to three different pretreatment processes inclusive of thermal, chemical, and microwave-assisted-alkaline techniques, prior to enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process. The composition profile of coconut husk was significantly altered upon the microwave-assisted-alkaline treatment as compared to the untreated sample, with the cellulose content increasing from 18-21% to 38-39% while lignin content decreased from 46-53% to 31-33%. Among the pretreatment methods applied, enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk pretreated by microwave-assisted-alkaline method recorded the highest yield of fermentable sugars, 0.279 g sugar/g substrate. SEM imaging showed the obvious and significant disruption of coconut husks’ structure after microwave-assisted-alkaline pretreatment. In conclusion, by employing suitable pretreatment technique in treating the lignocellulosic materials of coconut husk, the extracted fermentable sugar is a potential substrate for bioethanol production.