The overall aim of this work is to research the physico-chemical properties of thermally modified wood. Such information may be useful for predictions and tailoring of adhesion properties and molecular interaction between the modified wood and other material systems, for example coatings, adhesives or matrices in composites. Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) is a technique particularly useful to determine surface free energy and acid-base characteristics (surface energetics) of materials in particle, fibrous or powder form, e.g. various wood processing byproducts. The method can provide insight into changes in the surface chemistry of modified wood useful for its subsequent use, for example in the production of composite materials. The specific objective of this study is to present the results from some initial trials to characterize surface energetics at different moisture levels of ground thermally modified wood by means of IGC analyses. In traditional IGC experiments the stationary phase of interest is analyzed at an absolutely dry state which may not be applicable to hygroscopic materials such as wood when used in building material applications, i.e. conditions which always involve moisture interactions at different levels. In a new generation of IGC apparatus as applied in this study it is possible to condition the stationary phase at different moisture levels, which hence enables analyses of surface energetics of hygroscopic materials more relevant to real technical applications.
Keywords: Thermally modified wood, surface energy characterization, inverse gas chromatography (IGC)
Authors
Källbom S.
TH Royal Institute of Technology, Building Materials, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Segerholm K.
SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, EcoBuild, 86 Stockholm, SWEDEN
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Building Materials, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Jones D.
SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, EcoBuild, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Wålinder M.
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Building Materials
SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, EcoBuild, Stockholm, SWEDEN
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