Modified wood, still being a niche product, is gaining more favour with architects, specifiers and end-users, which suggests a continued success (Jones et al. 2018). However, the commercialised wood modification systems are significantly more expensive than traditional alternatives containing biocides. Thus, a new, low cost and non-toxic wood modification system is urgently needed. Earlier studies on the utilisation of low-cost sorbitol for wood modification have been limited to describing solely the dimensional stabilisation of the wood matrix (Bateson, 1938, 1939). In recent studies, wood modification using polyesterification of sorbitol and citric acid (PS-modification) was shown to enhance not only dimensional stability, but also durability against decay fungi and reduced susceptibility to blue-stain fungi (Larnøy et al. 2018). The resistance of PS-modified wood against wood borers in the marine environment and against subterranean termites has not been studied earlier and is presented in this study.
Keywords: wood modification, sorbitol, termite resistance
Authors
Andreas Treu
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
Erik Larnøy
Greeley Beck
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