Wettability and swelling of acetylated and furfurylated wood analyzed by multicycle Wilhelmy plate method

Abstract

Abstract The wetting, dimensional stability and sorption properties of a range of modified wood samples obtained either by acetylation or furfurylation were compared with those of unmodified samples of the same wood species via a multicycle Wilhelmy plate method. Wettability measurements were performed with water and octane as the swelling and non-swelling liquids, respectively. It was found that acetylation reduces water uptake mainly by reducing the swelling. In comparison, furfurylation reduces both swelling and the void volume in the sample. To quantify the effect of the modification process of the wood properties, the parameters “liquid up-take reduction” and the “perimeter change reduction” were introduced, which were determined from multicycle Wilhelmy plate measurements. Compared with the acetylated wood, the furfurylated wood with a higher level of weight percent gain exhibited larger property changes on the surface and in terms of swelling and sorption properties.