Biological performance of copper azole-treated wood and wood-based composites

Abstract

Abstract Vacuum-impregnation with copper azole was applied as a post-treatment to five commercially available wood-based composites with thicknesses of approximately 12 mm, such as softwood plywood (SWP), hardwood plywood (HWP), medium density fiberboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), and particleboard (PB). Untreated and treated composites were tested for their resistance to decay fungi (brown rot fungus Fomitopsis palustris and white rot fungus Trametes versicolor) and the subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus by Japanese standardized laboratory test methods. Untreated MDF was highly resistant to both biological attacks and seemed to require no preservative treatment under less hazardous conditions, i.e., under protected and above-ground applications, with possible occasional wetting. PB was ranked second, and needed further protection only against C. formosanus. Copper azole did not adequately protect SWP from F. palustris and termite. OSB was not protected either against F. palustris and T. versicolor even at a concentration level of 1 kg copper azole per m3 in contrary to blocks of Cryptomeria japonica sapwood, which was protected at these concentration levels. The biological resistance of HWP was reasonably improved by copper azole. The performance of wood-based composites treated with copper azole, which was inferior to the biological resistance of treated C. japonica sapwood blocks, might depend on the thickness or layer profile, density as a result of porosity, uneven distribution of the preservative in the composites, and the susceptibility of the component raw materials.