Dielectric properties of paraffin wax emulsion/copper azole compound system treated wood

Abstract

In order to investigate the interactions among the waterproof agent, preservative and wood, the dielectric relaxation was measured for untreated wood and wood samples treated with different paraffin wax emulsion/copper azole (CA) compound systems at oven-dried and air-dried state, respectively. The Cole-Cole plot analysis was then conducted and the results were as follow. At oven-dried state (-60 °C), the dielectric characteristics of paraffin wax emulsion treated wood were basically the same as those of untreated wood; CA treatment increased the dielectric constant but decreased the dielectric loss factor and the trends of these two characteristic parameters were more remarkable at higher CA concentration; the dielectric properties of compound system treated wood under C4A grade were similar to those of CA treated wood but an increase in impregnation of paraffin wax emulsion gave rise to decreased dielectric constant and increased loss factor. At air-dried state (20 °C, 65% RH), compared with untreated samples, both the dielectric constant and loss factor were lower in waterproofing agent treated wood and these parameters reduced with increasing waterproofing agent concentration; for CA treated samples, the values of dielectric parameters increased and the trend was similar to those treated with the compound system under C4A grade.