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Forests
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Wood Protection Based on the Study of Chemical and Physical...
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Wood Protection Based on the Study of Chemical and Physical Properties

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2023) | Viewed by 4395

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Davor Kržišnik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Wood Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: decay; wood technology; discoloration; mould; service life; wood
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jure Žigon

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Wood Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: adhesion; coatings; surface; weathering performance; wettability; wood; wood anatomy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wood continues to be an important part of daily life and culture because of its attractive appearance and properties. It is a renewable resource and a natural biopolymer used in a wide range of applications. Compared to other building materials, wood offers several advantages, including a high strength-to-weight ratio, strong thermal insulation, easy workability, and appealing aesthetics. Due to the chemical nature and physical structure of wood, its resistance to various biological agents is limited. This must be taken into account when wood is exposed to moisture, which creates ideal conditions for decay.

Extending the life of wood products through the use of new-generation wood preservatives and surface coatings is crucial from a safety point of view, as some of these agents have been banned due to their negative effects on humans and the environment.

Nowadays, environmentally friendly wood preservation is a topic under investigation and includes a variety of methods based on the study of chemical and physical properties. The aim of this Special Issue is to compile high-quality original papers and systematic reviews of recent developments in the field of protection techniques for wood and wood-based composites.

In order to increase knowledge on the mechanisms of durability of wood and on strategies for the protection and preservation of wood, wood structures, and wood-based building materials, we welcome research papers from different disciplines, such as wood materials science, wood technology, and wood pathology, as well as the development of methods, experimental studies, monitoring approaches and models, literature reviews, and surveys as contributions to this Special Issue.

Dr. Davor Kržišnik
Dr. Jure Žigon
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wood protection
  • wood preservation
  • chemical properties
  • physical properties
  • durability
  • service life of wood
  • weathering
  • wood surface
  • coatings

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 10768 KiB  
Article
Assessment of the Combined Charring and Coating Treatments as a Wood Surface Protection Technique
by Jure Žigon and Matjaž Pavlič
Forests 2023, 14(3), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14030440 - 21 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1367
Abstract
Flame treatment is an ancient technique for surface protection of wood. Further processing of charred wood elements depends on aesthetic and protective requirements. This study presents some general properties and weathering behaviour of the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and the [...] Read more.
Flame treatment is an ancient technique for surface protection of wood. Further processing of charred wood elements depends on aesthetic and protective requirements. This study presents some general properties and weathering behaviour of the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and the European larch (Larix decidua Mill.), protected by variations of sanding, charring, charring + brushing, and coating treatments. Charring and charring + brushing reduced the original mass of the samples by up to 8% and notably changed their colour (ΔE* ≤ 75). A study of chemical properties showed that charring dehydrated the wood and degraded lignin and hemicelluloses. The surface roughness of the wood after charring and charring + brushing increased by as much as 560%, while coating with waterborne acrylic high build stain had no effect on the roughness of these surfaces. The type of surface treatment of the wood did not affect the uptake of the coating in the wood samples, but the uncoated and coated spruce wood absorbed more water than larch wood. Higher water absorption was observed in the samples treated by charring, and it decreased when the char layer was removed by brushing. The film of a waterborne high build stain reduced water uptake only for surfaces treated by sanding and charring + brushing. Larch wood exhibited higher surface hardness (EHz ≤ 1.70 MPa) than spruce wood (EHz ≤ 0.89 MPa), with the brittle char layer reducing the determined hardness of the tested surfaces. During two years of natural weathering, the char layer was removed from the wood surface, even if the samples were additionally coated. The greatest colour changes during weathering were observed on samples treated by sanding (ΔE* ≤ 60) and sanding + coating (ΔE* ≤ 33), followed by samples treated with charring + brushing (ΔE* ≤ 10) and samples treated with charring (ΔE* ≤ 9). In summary, treating wood by charring in combination with brushing was the best wood protection technique. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Protection Based on the Study of Chemical and Physical Properties)
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10 pages, 2806 KiB  
Article
n-Heptadecane-Impregnated Wood as a Potential Material for Energy-Saving Buildings
by Ahmet Can and Jure Žigon
Forests 2022, 13(12), 2137; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122137 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1440
Abstract
Phase change materials (PCMs) are ideal for thermal management solutions in buildings. This is because they store and release thermal energy during melting and freezing. Spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Peterm.) sapwood was impregnated with n-heptadecane (100%) as a PCM. The decay-resistance properties [...] Read more.
Phase change materials (PCMs) are ideal for thermal management solutions in buildings. This is because they store and release thermal energy during melting and freezing. Spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Peterm.) sapwood was impregnated with n-heptadecane (100%) as a PCM. The decay-resistance properties and thermal energy storage (TES) characteristics of the n-heptadecane-impregnated wood were studied. The phase change properties of n-heptadecane (nHD)-impregnated wood were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. As confirmed by DSC analysis, nHD-impregnated wood demonstrated moderate performance in storing and releasing heat during the phase change process. Significant increases were observed in the 2800–3000 cm−1 and 1471 cm−1 peaks in FTIR spectra of wood samples impregnated with nHD, which showed C–H stretching in methyl and methylene groups and asymmetric deformation vibration of the paraffin methyl group (CH3–) and C–O stretch in lignin, respectively. It was observed that there was a change in the crystal structure of spruce wood samples after nHD impregnation. This study revealed that PCMs are resistant to wood-destroying fungi. The performance of nHD-impregnated spruce wood proves that it can be used as a thermal regulating building material to reduce energy consumption. In addition, it has been proven on a laboratory scale that the PCM used is highly resistant to biological attacks. However, large-scale pilot studies are still needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Protection Based on the Study of Chemical and Physical Properties)
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Review

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12 pages, 751 KiB  
Review
The Potential of Uncoated Norway Spruce as a Façade Material—A Review
by Sebastian Svensson Meulmann and Tinh Sjökvist
Forests 2023, 14(6), 1153; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061153 - 02 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1166
Abstract
This article reviews the potential of uncoated Norway spruce as a façade material. Aspects such as natural durability, permeability properties, impact of density, and product dimensions are discussed. The review concludes that a careful design of the product is needed due to the [...] Read more.
This article reviews the potential of uncoated Norway spruce as a façade material. Aspects such as natural durability, permeability properties, impact of density, and product dimensions are discussed. The review concludes that a careful design of the product is needed due to the intrinsic properties of the spruce species. Natural photodegradation will occur but has been proven not to impact spruce to a greater degree than other species. The optimal choice for a Norway spruce panel would be made of heartwood without juvenile tissues, with a vertical growth ring orientation. The selection of density is, however, unclear since low density reduces crack formation but could facilitate favourable levels of moisture for fungal colonisation. Additionally, the width of the growth ring has an unpredictable effect on the formation of cracks when the effect of early and latewood interaction cooperates with the effect of density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Protection Based on the Study of Chemical and Physical Properties)
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