The Role of Chemical Transport in the Decay Resistance of Modified Wood

Abstract

A 2014 review by Ringman et al. examined established theories addressing why modified wood has increased decay resistance and concluded that the most probable cause of inhibition and/or delay of the initiation of brown rot decay is lowering the equilibrium moisture content for given environmental conditions. A 2013 paper by Jakes et al. examined moisture induced wood damage mechanisms that do not appear in dry wood but have onsets at moisture contents below fibre saturation, including wood decay and fastener corrosion, and observed that these damage mechanisms require chemical transport through wood cell walls. They proposed the mechanism for chemical transport within the wood cell walls was controlled by a moisture induced glass transition in interconnected networks of hemicelluloses and amorphous cellulose. Here we show how these models jointly suggest a mechanism by which wood modifications can inhibit brown rot. Alternative mechanisms are also discussed. These models can be used to understand the performance of modified wood and in the development of new modification systems.

Citation

Zelinka, Samuel L.; Ringman, Rebecka; Pulgard, Annica; Thybring, Emil Engelund; Jakes, Joseph E.; Richter, Klaus. 2015. The role of chemical transport in the decay resistance of modified wood. In: M. Hughes, L. Rautkari, T. Uimonen, H. Militz, B. Junge (Eds.) Proceedings of the Eighth European Conference on Wood Modification. Ålto University School of Chemical Technology; Helsinki, Finland. pp. 35-43.