COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF STERILIZATION WITH ESSENTIAL OIL AND NANOSILVER ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WOOD

Abstract

Fungal damage to wood may be traced to three general causes: (a) lack of suitable protective measures when storing logs or bolts; (b) improper seasoning, storing, or handling of the raw material produced from the log; and (c) failure to take ordinary simple precautions in using the final product. Also bacteria attack the wood but usually, bacteria have little effect on wood properties, except over long periods, but some may make the wood excessively absorptive. This can result in excessive absorption of moisture, adhesive, paint, or preservative during treatment or use. Wooden material is exposed to microbiological attack because of its organic nature and it must be protected because it forms high percentage of our artifacts. Many studies have been done to reach the best method of treatment and one of those methods was the use of essential oils as cinnamon oil, lavender oil, lemon oil, thyme oil and olive oil. The tested oils differed considerably in their efficacy against moulds. Nanoparticles such as silver, titanium and zinc oxide in this study includes application three types of essential oils; lavender oil, lemon oil and thyme oil but the nanomaterials that only silver nano particles that also proved it's efficacy against molds. This study tests it's effect on chemical composition of wood and visual characteristic by FTIR and color change to choose the ideal one at sterilization process. Methods of application varied between direct application to use of vapor of essential oils and direct application at nano material.