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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2004

Abstract

Chitosan, a derivate of the natural amino polysaccharide chitin, has proven effective as a potential environmentally benign antimicrobial component. Few studies have focused on chitosan applied to wood against wood inhabiting and decaying fungi.In these screening studies several mycological experiments were performed to screen chitosan as a potential wood protecting agent. Growth studies on chitosan-amended media showed total inhibition of Poria placenta, Coriolus versicolor and Aspergillus niger using 1% w/v concentration.Chitosan with high average molecular weight (MW) was more efficient against mould and staining fungi than chitosan with low MW. Agar plate leaching tests showed only a small leaching effect using a 5% concentration on A. niger and P. placenta. Decay testing with P. placenta demonstrated efficacy using 5% and 2.5% concentrations in unleached samples. Leaching decreased the efficacy of chitosan and further investigations are needed to improve the fixation in wood.

Abstract

In this study modified linseed oils, rape oil and three waxes were screened on their efficacy as wood protecting agents. By testing all products when impregnated with high retentions in Scots Pine sapwood on water repellence qualities, additionally an accelerated weathering test, drying quality, accelerated brown rot and blue stain test, an indication is formed of the capability of these products as wood protecting treatments. All oil and wax treatments significantly improve the water repellency of untreated wood. In weathering resistance, maleinised and polymerised linseed oil showed the best results in improving untreated pine sapwood dimensional stability thus reducing crack formation and decolourization by UV-light. In accelerated brown rot and blue stain tests boiled linseed oil significantly reduced degradation and staining. In addition, maleinised linseed oil and a mixture of modified linseed- and mineral oil are very well performing in the blue stain test. Overall most promising products are the maleinised oils and boiled linseed oil. The maleinised oils have good potentials in long lasting water repellency, showed some fungal growth prevention, are colour stable in weathering tests and create a dimensional stable wood product. Boiled linseed oil is not exceptionally good as a water repellent, but the good drying qualities together with easy handling makes this oil a promising product.

Abstract

Tall oil is a by-product in pulping of resinous wood by the sulphate process. Tall oil contains a complex mixture of wood extractives. Some of these extractives act as natural protection against wood decaying fungi while other serve as nutrition for the fungi. This report describes a screening of the efficacy of four refined tall oils with different chemical composition on wood decaying fungi.Testing was performed as filter paper assay and mini-block assay. In the filter paper assay growth rates of the white rot fungus Coriolus versicolor and the brown rot fungus Poria placenta were inhibited by the tall oils. None of the oils caused total inhibition of the fungi but there was a clear pattern towards increased efficacy with increased portion of resin acids in the oils.Impregnated mini-blocks with approximately 200 kg/m3 retention of tall oil after leaching showed an evident effect against Coniophora puteana and Poria placenta compared to untreated control samples. However, using the criteria from EN 113 requiring less than 3% mass loss, tall oil failed.The results indicate that decay resistance of tall oil impregnated Scots pine sapwood to the retention level used in this study is comparable with the decay resistance of Scots pine heartwood. It was expected that the efficacy of the tall oils was related to chemical composition of the oils. This was confirmed for the filter paper assay where the efficacy increased with increasing amount of resin acids. However, this pattern was not found for the mini-block assay.The protective effect of the tall oils in wood seems therefore to be more related to their hydrophobic properties than to their fungicidal properties.

Abstract

EMC is traditionally analysed using small, clear wood specimens. However, some discrepancy was observed in full-size boards in a sawmill. In this experiment specimens of varying length from 10 to 120 mm clear wood and from 120 to 900 mm natural quality were tested. Commercial spruce boards were used. After kiln drying and proper conditionning, the samples were kept in a constant climate (40 °C, 65% RH) for half a year, until apparent equilibrium was reached. The EMC was observed by the dry weight method separately for adsorption and desorption. The EMC (average for ad- and desorption) was found to increase proportionally to the natural logarithm of the specimen length. Further, clear wood showed sifgnificantly higher EMC than natural quality. While for desorption the EMC was hardly influenced by length, desorption was highly length dependent. The difference in EMC (desorption) between a full-length board and a 10-mm clear specimen was estimated to 0.013 (fraction of dry wood). Accordingly, the hysteresis A:D ratio decreased from 0.96 for the shortest specimens to 0.88 for the longest. The results verify and extend earlier findings and are important for understanding and estimating the wood-moisture interaction of kiln dried timber, particulary for high drying quality specifications. However, the difficulty of deciding the EMC for large specimens should not be underestimated.