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Microscopy evaluation of microbial decay patterns in wood stakes after 6 years in soil contact
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10715
Most studies on wood modification have so far been concerned with service life predictions rather than investigating the decay protection mechanism. Very little is known about the mode of action of these new treatments and about the strategies used by wood degraders in order to utilize the wood material despite a treatment. Access to such knowledge would allow further modification and improvement ...
A Pilgård, C G Björdal


The Use of Micro-Tensile Testing to Assess Weathering Decay and Oxidative Degradation of Wooden Items
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20433
This paper presents a method to study the weathering performance of wooden items and to assess the oxidative degradation of wood via the Fenton reaction. Weathering resistance and photo-stability of wood was tested using pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneer strips measuring approximately 60 µm in thickness. The veneer strips were treated using a reactive chemical to impart surface protection. The ...
C Mai, Yanjun Xie, Zefang Xiao, P D Evans, H Militz


Analyzing hyphal growth of the bio incising fungus Physisporinus vitreus with light-, confocal laser scanning- and, Synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20438
Norway spruce wood is an important building material for the forest and wood industry. To improve wood permeability and uptake of wood modification substances Physisporinus vitreus is employed as a bioincising agent. In this study wood specimens were incubated with P. vitreus to assess hyphal colonisation and structural alterations of Norway spruce wood. After different incubation periods, semi-th...
C Stührk, M Fuhr, M Schubert, F W M R Schwarze


Copper nanoparticles in southern pine wood treated with a micronised preservative: Can nanoparticles penetrate the cell walls of tracheids and ray parenchyma?
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30547
This study tests the hypothesis that copper nanoparticles can penetrate the cell walls of southern pine wood treated with a micronised preservative. We examined the nanodistribution of particles in tracheid and ray parenchyma cell walls using state-of-the-art HR (High Resolution)-TEM and HR-STEM (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope)-EDX. These devices are capable of atomic-scale resolution. ...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P Evans


Using plant oils as hydrophobic substances for wood protection
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30550
The increased interest to use oils as hydrophobic agents and the current debate about the further use of creosote emphasises the urgent need of better understanding of plant and other oils as wood protectors. The present study sheds light on the hydrophobic properties and distribution of various plant oils in the anatomical structure of Scots pine sapwood. Oil retentions from approximately 70 to 5...
D Panov, N Terziev, G Daniel


Study of Microscopy Properties of Modified Wood During Weathering Process
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40517
In this study spruce (Picea excelsa) and Beech (Fagus orientalis) wood acetylated and has been subjected of artificial weathering in difference times (0, 50,150&300 h), then wood surface analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The SEM results shown that the surface of wood exposed to weathering undergoes distinct physical changes and the surface degradation appears to be directly propor...
M Akhtari


Copper Nanoparticles in Southern Pine Wood Treated with a Micronised Preservative: Nanodistribution of Copper in the Pit Membrane and Border of an Earlywood Bordered Pit
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30566
Copper nanoparticles can penetrate the cell walls of unlignified parenchyma cells in southern pine wood treated with a micronised wood preservative, but they are excluded from lignified tracheid walls. This paper extends these observations to include the cell wall layers of the bordered pit. Focused ion beam and ion milling were used to make an ultra-thin section of the cell wall layers of an earl...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P Evans


Decay resistance of a commercial pistachio twig-plastic composite
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40553
In this research, the decay resistance of commercial extruded pistachio twig flour-plastic composite was investigated against the white-rot fungi Trametes versicolor and the brown-rot fungus Coniophora puteana. The composite specimens containing 60% pistachio twig flour were exposed to a decay test according to modified ASTM standard for 3 months. The results showed that the composite could be d...
M R M Farahani, M Safarzadeh


Evaluation of fungal infestation and decay in a simulated use class 3 situation (block test) after some years of exposure
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20487
The so named “block test” was designed as part of the assessment methodology for testing the behaviour of natural and modified wood used under use class 3 (EN 335-2) conditions. The test was developed to expose the wood close to the ground to an environment with high humidity and high biological activity, but not in soil contact. The present study describes the evaluation of fungal infestatio...
A Gellerich, K Röhl, S Adamopoulos, H Militz


Use of Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy for in situ Observation of Degradation of Wood Surfaces during Artificial Weathering
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20489
Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) is capable of observing electrically non-conductive materials like wood without the need to render the surface conductive by applying a coating of gold, platinum or carbon. Hence, there is the possibility that VPSEM could be used to non-destructively follow the structural changes occurring at wood surfaces during weathering, because specimens ...
F Hatae, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, H Matsunaga, J Matsumura


Accessibility of Wood Cell Walls to Well-defined Platinum Nanoparticles
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20494
Copper nanoparticles are found in the walls of parenchyma cells in southern pine sapwood treated with a micronised wood preservative, but they are absent from tracheid walls. Hence, we hypothesized that small nanoparticles can penetrate the walls of unlignified parenchyma cells, but are excluded from lignified tracheid walls. This paper tests this hypothesis by treating pine sapwood with an aqueou...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P D Evans


Preliminary evaluation of degradation patterns in wood samples from the Yenikapı shipwrecks
2013 - IRG/WP 13-10798
The uncovering of several shipwrecks during the excavation of the Marmaray Rail Tube Tunnel Project in Istanbul provides an important opportunity to evaluate waterlogged woods buried for centuries. Identification of these woods showed that a variety of species was used in the ships. One shipwreck (a galley) from the Yenikapı Marmaray was examined using electron microscopy. The micrographs rev...
C Köse, A M Taylor


Characterization of test fields
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20508
Test field characteristics and impact of test fields on wood degradation is important when testing wood protection. The current EN 252 standard has no requirement for knowledge of decay hazards, but most commonly a test field is known as a “brown”,- “white”,- or “soft rot” field. To understand which decay hazard wood preservatives are tested against, each test field should be character...
U Råberg, N Terziev, G Daniel


Effect of soil contact on reacted copper(II) levels in micronized copper treated wood
2013 - IRG/WP 13-30616
Small 3 to 4 mm thick and approximately 80 to 100 mm long, samples were removed from wood treated with micronized copper quat (MCQ) or micronized copper azole (MCA) and buried full length in a soil bed. Samples were removed after 2, 4 and 8 weeks. The total copper was determined by x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and the amount of reacted micronized copper measured by electron paramagnetic r...
Wei Xue, P Kennepohl, Xingguo Jin, J N R Ruddick


Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy as a tool for examining chemical changes in wood cell walls due to enzymatic activity
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20556
As development of techniques for examining enzymatic activity on solid, complex biological materials, is considered to be an important factor in further development of enzyme applications and for understanding the decay of plant materials, this study explores applicability of Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope (STXM) for determining chemical changes in enzymatically treated samples at the cell...
D Jeremic, R Goacher, R Yan, C Karunakaran, E R Master


Modern Instrumental Methods to Investigate the Mechanism of Biological Decay in Wood Plastic Composites
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40674
Various instrumental techniques were used to study the fungal decay process in wood plastic composite (WPC) boards. Commercial boards exposed near Hilo, Hawaii (HI) for eight years in both sun and shadow locations were inspected and tested periodically. After eight years of exposure, both boards were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), while a selected area of the board exposed in sh...
G Sun, R Ibach, M Gnatowski, J Glaeser, M Leung, J Haight


Penetration of phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin into beech wood studied by light microscopy
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20558
In this study, we examined the distribution and penetration depth of phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin into wood specimens by light microscopy (LM). Two PF resins from different producers, of concentrations 9, 18 and 27 wt % in water, were vacuum impregnated into European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica) blocks of 15x25x50 mm³. The presence of chemical agent in the wood was carried out by way of their i...
V Biziks, S Bicke, H Militz


Development of a new characterization method to analyse Cypermethrin penetration in wood material by immunolabelling
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30674
The preservative efficacy of organic biocides is strongly related to their capacity of penetration and retention within wood tissues. The specific detection of the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin is currently obtained after extraction followed by chemical analysis by chromatography techniques. However visualizing the insecticide molecule within the wood structure requires specific probes toget...
S Tapin-Lingua, K Ruel, J-P Joseleau, D Messaoudi, O Fahy, M Jequel, M Petit-Conil


Preparation of Calibration Standards for the Analysis of Pentachlorophenol in Treated Wood by X-ray Fluorescence
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20591
The primary purpose of this project was to develop a method for preparing calibration standards that can be used by the wood treating industry to calibrate X-ray fluorescence instrumentation. Calibration standards of penta/P9-oil in southern yellow pine that cover the retention range of 0.2 to 0.9 pcf (0.6 to 1.9 %) were successfully prepared. A detailed procedure for mixing penta in treating sol...
L L Ingram Jr, H M Barnes, R Shmulsky, D Jeremic


Investigation of enzymatic effect on pit membranes by light and scanning electron microscopy
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40721
Spruce wood, one of the refractory wood species has pit membranes, which has an influence on the permeability of wood providing liquid flow between the wood cells. However, these membranes tend to close under the fiber saturated point (FSD), which makes impregnation more difficult. In this study spruce sapwood samples were treated with two different commercial enzymes to improve the permeability o...
S Durmaz, Ü C Yildiz, M Öztürk, B Serdar


Use of small volume cups in XRF analysis of treated wood retention
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20602
Efforts are underway in the United States to improve the conformance of commercially-treated wood with the applicable retention standards. As part of an effort to devise a practical method for on-site assessment of within-charge retention variation, we investigated whether small-volume x-ray florescence (XRF) sample cups could be used with treated wood. A range of cup sizes, preservative types, re...
R Stelzer, A Taylor, P Lebow


Measurement of copper concentration in Cu-HDO treating solutions by handheld XRF
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20685
Copper based preservatives diluted in water dominate the wood preservative industry around the world. Periodically measurements and adjustments of the concentration of treating solutions must be performed as a part of the quality control at the treatment plant to achieve desired quality of the preservative treated wood. Many analytical methods are time consuming and must be performed under laborat...
P O Flaete


Environmentally Friendly Wood Modification based on Tannin-Furfuryl alcohol - Effect on stabilisation, mechanical properties and decay durability
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40929
Furfurylation is a well-known wood modification technology. This paper studied the effect of tannin addition on the wood furfurylation. Three kinds of dicarboxylic acids, adipic acid, succinic acid, and tartaric acid, as well as glyoxal as a comparing agent, were used to catalyse the polymerisation of furanic or tannin-furanic solutions during wood modification. Impregnation of furanic or tannin-f...
M Mubarok, E Azadeh, F O Akong, S Dumarçay, A Pizzi, C Charbonnier-Gérardin, P Gérardin


Investigating wood anatomical factors influencing the treatability of refractory southern pine- an imaging approach
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40975
Southern pine sapwood is non-durable, and preservative treatment is necessary to protect it against biological degradation. According to AS 1604.1 2021, timber products must have their sapwood fully treated with preservatives for various applications and hazard classes. However, there is a growing industry concern over the refractory sections of sapwood, which are untreated pockets of wood that do...
M Shirmohammadi, M R Karbaschi, B Hassan, W Leggate


Time-lapse evaluation of Aureobasidium pullulans growth on selected lignin derivatives and chitosan
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11032
Wood, often referred to as the “building material of the 21st century”, has gained recognition as an attractive alternative to several traditional building solutions. To enlarge the application of wood, several properties including biotic and abiotic degradation resistance need to be improved. Consequently, new solutions are available on the market that ensure expected properties and functiona...
Gubensek, F Poohphajai, A Tosic, K Butina Ogorelek, W Pajerski, A Cernosa, V Hribljan, A Sandak


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