Abstract
Wood is a living material with a dimensional stability problem. White spruce wood is a Canadian non-permeable wood that is used for siding applications. To improve this property, white spruce wood was treated with organosilanes sol-gel treatment with different moisture content (oven dried, air dried, and green wood). No major morphological changes were observed after treatment. However, organosilanes were impregnated into the cell wall without densifying the wood and without modifying the wood structure. Si-O-C chemical bonds between organosilanes and wood and Si-O-Si bonds were confirmed by FTIR and NMR, showing the condensation of organosilanes. The green wood (41% moisture content) showed only 26% dimensional stability due to the presence of too much water for organosilanes treatment. With a moisture content of 14%–18% (oven dried or air dried wood), the treatment was adapted to obtain the best improvement in dimensional stability of 35% and a 25% reduction of water vapor sorption. Finally, impregnation with organosilanes combined with the appropriate heat treatment improved the dimensional stability of white spruce wood by up to 35%. This treated Canadian wood could be an interesting option to validate for siding application in Canada.
Highlights
The demand for wood material is decreasing for sidings in America, it is necessary to find a solution to revitalize this material [1]
OWSSiHT), shows a mass gain of 11%–13% compared to raw wood and 15% compared to wood with heat treatment alone-OWST and OWSHT
For green wood, the final mass loss of wood treated with organosilanes (GWSSiT and GWSSiHT) is much lower than heat-treated wood
Summary
The demand for wood material is decreasing for sidings in America, it is necessary to find a solution to revitalize this material [1]. In Quebec (Canada), white spruce wood (Picea glauca (M). V.), is an important species used in sidings; one of its most known problems is its dimensional stability. Because of its hygroscopic behavior, wood is prone to crackling, warping, and fading due to dimensional variation, which is a problem in siding applications. Wood modification is necessary to improve these physical properties and to guarantee this material for siding applications in Quebec. There are two main wood modifications used to improve its dimensional stability
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