Water uptake and wetting behaviour of furfurylated, N-methylol melamine modified and heat-treated wood

This study reports on the water uptake (WU) and wetting properties of different modified wood materials; furfurylated and N-methylol melamine (NMM) modified Scots pine, and heat-treated (Vacu(3) method) Scots pine and beech. All modifications caused a substantial reduction in WU in the longitudinal, tangential and radial directions both after short (24 h) and long contact times (168, 336 h) with a saturated sponge. The water uptake coefficient (w (t) ) was reduced by approximately 71-89 % in furfurylated wood, with the higher weight percent gain (WPG) providing a slightly greater reduction. The reduction in WU was not found to depend on the NMM solid content. The NMM treatment had the maximum effect on the reduction of tangential w (t) by 80-84 % and was much smaller in the longitudinal direction (31-68 %). The treatment temperature of 195 A degrees C gave lower WU values than treatment at 210 A degrees C, and the only exception was the radial direction of Scots pine. The longitudinal w (t) of heat-treated beech represented the highest reduction by 81-89 %, while radial w (t) was less affected in both species. Sessile drop apparent contact angles for water and diidomethane and corresponding surface energies on planed tangential and radial wood surfaces revealed an increased hydrophobicity and reduced polarity of modified wood. Furfurylated and NMM modified tangential surfaces had a higher increase of apparent contact angles than the radial surfaces but this was not observed in the case of heat treatment. Heat-treated wood showed reduced wetting of surfaces only with water. Apparent contact angles did neither differ with treatment temperature nor with the NMM resin load. The disperse component of surface energy was slightly increased by 20 % maximum in modified wood, while the polar components showed a dramatic decrease by -30 to -90 % with no major differences among treatments and intensities, and between surfaces. The results provide a better understanding of the hygroscopic behaviour of modified wood, which might be useful to predict its adhesion with various polymers such as glues, coatings and paints.