Influence of modification of aged spruce wood by in situ polymerization with ethyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate and paraloid B72 on color and water absorption

Abstract

Influence of modification of aged spruce wood by in situ polymerization with ethyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate and paraloid B72 on color and water absorption. Wood is hydrophilic in nature, which creates problems such as dimensional instability and susceptibility to biological degradation. By using chemical modification, wood can be refined into new products with improved properties. Such a combination of wood and polymer is called a wood-polymer composite (WPC). The presented work compares the modification of aged wood by two methods. In situ polymerization with ethyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate with modification with Paraloid B72 solution. The determinants of the modifications carried out are percentage weight gain (WPG), color change and water absorption. Unmodified wood aged and unaged were the control samples. Also unaged and modified wood samples were prepared to compare results. The greatest change in color intensity and total color difference after the aging process was recorded for samples modified with Paraloid B72, and after UV light treatment - modified by the in situ polymerization. The in situ-modified samples had the lowest water absorption among aged samples, and Paraloid B72-modified samples had the lowest water absorption among unaged samples. The highest WPG was obtained from the aged samples modified by the in situ polymerization.