Abstract
This work presents a rapid and facile way to access the cell wall of wood with magnetic nanoparticles (NPs), providing insights into a method of wood modification to prepare hybrid bio-based functional materials. Diffusion-driven infiltration into Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sapwood was achieved using colloidal Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction analyses were used to detect and assess the accessibility of the cell wall to Fe3O4. The structural changes, filling of tracheids (cell lumina), and NP infiltration depth were further evaluated by performing X-ray microcomputed tomography analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to assess the chemical changes in Scots pine induced by the interaction of the wood with the solvent. The thermal stability of Fe3O4-modified wood was studied by thermogravimetric analysis. Successful infiltration of the Fe3O4 NPs was confirmed by measuring the magnetic properties of cross-sectioned layers of the modified wood. The results indicate the feasibility of creating multiple functionalities that may lead to many future applications, including structural nanomaterials with desirable thermal properties, magnetic devices, and sensors.
Highlights
Forests are vital for the environment, society, and economy, and the development of wood products by enhancing their physicochemical properties is of fundamental importance
Micro-computed tomography (CT) analysis confirmed that infiltrated NPs do not accumulate within random cell lumina and that there were no collapsed or filled parenchyma cells in the Fe3O4 NP-treated wood
CT-analysis showed that cell walls exhibited very clear signals, indicating the infiltration of precapped NPs into the cell lumina
Summary
Forests are vital for the environment, society, and economy, and the development of wood products by enhancing their physicochemical properties is of fundamental importance. The properties of materials are size-dependent, so that when particles are reduced to a nanoscale (1−100 nm), the chemical reactivity, electrical conductivity, optical emissivity, and magnetic permeability change These size-dependent properties can be precisely tuned by controlling the composition, size, and surface of the nanomaterial.[2,5−7] Studies show that wood as a matrix with a hierarchical and porous structure offers an exciting platform for the incorporation of nanosized materials.[8] For example, Trey et al prepared ferromagnetic wood by direct impregnation and ion exchange,[9] while Merk et al prepared nanobiocomposites with pronounced anisotropic magnetic properties when iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were embedded within a wood matrix via in situ coprecipitation synthesis,[10] and Lou et al demonstrated electromagnetic waveabsorbing properties of magnetic wood in which Fe3O4 was synthesized in situ through coprecipitation.[11] Fe3O4-wood composites were prepared by a hydrothermal method,[12] and Segmehl et al prepared a hybrid iron oxide-wood composite via microwave-assisted thermal decomposition.[13] In another study, the same group demonstrated infiltration of europium-doped HfO2 nanoparticles with a size of 3 nm into Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) wood cells.[14] Gold NPs have been grown in poplar wood following immobilization of enzymes for heterogeneous biocatalysis.[15] Attempts have been made to produce transparent functionalized wood. The results indicate that solid inorganic Fe3O4 nanoparticles infiltrated into Scots pine sapwood have a potential for creating bio-based materials with multiple functionalities
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