Furfurylation of wood from fast-growing tropical species to enhance their resistance to subterranean termite

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to use furfurylation to enhance the resistance of wood to subterranean termite attack. Wood samples were obtained from four fast-growing tropical wood species, namely sengon (Falcataria moluccana), jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba), mangium (Acacia mangium), and pine (Pinus merkusii), felled at a short cutting rotation. Specimens were impregnated with furfuryl alcohol (FA) solution and tartaric acid as a catalyst and then heated at 100 °C for 24 h. After conditioning, the specimens were exposed to subterranean termite attack in the laboratory according to the Indonesian standard. Furfurylated samples were found to have a higher density presumably because poly-FA filled the void space. It also had a lower moisture content because of the presence of poly-FA bulking in the wood cell wall, making it more hydrophobic. Furfurylation greatly enhanced subterranean termite attack resistance of wood, as shown by remarkably higher termite mortality, higher wood resistance class, lower wood weight percent loss, and reduced termite feeding rate. Based on the Indonesian standard, in which class I indicates very resistant wood and class V indicates very poorly resistant wood, untreated wood was class IV, but all furfurylated wood specimens were rated as class I.