Due to the inherent biological nature, wood is susceptible to microbial degradation. Traditionally, broad toxicity biocides have been used to protect wood against decay, but these are gradually being phased out for environmental reasons. Instead, non-toxic modification methods, e.g. acetylation, are increasingly used to improve the durability of wood. Acetylation is a chemical wood modification method involving the substitution of accessible hydroxyl groups of the cell wall polymers with acetyl groups. The acetylation is well known to reduce the cell wall moisture content of wood, improve its dimensional stability as well as the resistance to microbial degradation (Rowell, 2014). How the acetylation affects the location and state of water in wood is, however, less known. In this study, thus, we investigate acetylated wood-water interactions by employing targeted cell wall acetylation.
Keywords: acetylation, wood-water interactions, cell wall
Authors
Ramūnas Digaitis
Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Lisbeth G. Thygesen
Emil E. Thybring
Maria Fredriksson
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