Abstract
The protection of wood in marine environments is a major challenge due to the high sensitivity of wood to both water and marine microorganisms. Besides, the environmental regulations are pushing the industry to develop novel effective and environmentally friendly treatments to protect wood in marine environments. The present study focused on the development of a new green methodology based on the laccase-assisted grafting of lauryl gallate (LG) onto wood to improve its marine antifouling properties. Initially, the enzymatic treatment conditions (laccase dose, time of reaction, LG concentration) and the effect of the wood specie (beech, pine, and eucalyptus) were assessed by water contact angle (WCA) measurements. The surface properties of the enzymatically modified wood veneers were assessed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Antifouling properties of the functionalized wood veneers against marine bacterium Cobetia marina were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and protein measurements. XPS and FTIR analysis suggested the stable grafting of LG onto the surface of wood veneers after laccase-assisted treatment. WCA measurements showed that the hydrophobicity of the wood veneers significantly increased after the enzymatic treatment. Protein measurements and SEM pictures showed that enzymatically-hydrophobized wood veneers modified the pattern of bacterial attachment and remarkably reduced the bacterium colonization. Thus, the results observed in the present study confirmed the potential efficiency of laccase-assisted treatments to improve the marine antifouling properties of wood.
Highlights
Wood is a renewable, cheap, and biodegradable bioresource with interesting mechanical properties which make it a competitive material in construction applications
All the immersed surfaces are rapidly colonized by different microorganisms leading to the formation of a biofilm, and larger organisms could colonize the substrata after the biofilm formation
Laccase-assisted hydrophobization is a promising pathway to achieve an efficient hydrophobization of wood with a low environmental impact and a competitive production cost
Summary
Cheap, and biodegradable bioresource with interesting mechanical properties which make it a competitive material in construction applications. Wood is highly hydrophilic and very sensitive to the attack of biological organisms [2] These characteristics are a major challenge in marine environments, due to the regular wet conditions and the great number of living organisms in seawater. Under these conditions, all the immersed surfaces are rapidly colonized by different microorganisms leading to the formation of a biofilm, and larger organisms could colonize the substrata after the biofilm formation. All the immersed surfaces are rapidly colonized by different microorganisms leading to the formation of a biofilm, and larger organisms could colonize the substrata after the biofilm formation This phenomenon is commonly known as marine biofouling [3]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.