Thermochemical and Mechanical Properties of Pine Wood Treated by In Situ Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate (MMA)

Andrey Pereira Acosta,Rafael Beltrame,Kelvin Techera Barbosa,Ezequiel Gallio,Jalel Labidi,Darci Alberto Gatto,Henrique Römer Schulz,Rafael De Avila Delucis

doi:10.3390/f11070768

Andrey Pereira Acosta, Rafael Beltrame + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/f11070768

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Abstract

The impregnation of low-molecular-weight monomers prior to polymerize them inside the wood may be an efficient way to improve some important wood properties. This work aimed to determine some technological properties of wood-based composites (WPC) produced by in situ polymerization, using a pine wood (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) impregnated with methyl methacrylate (MMA). For that, samples taken from both juvenile (JV) and mature (MT) pine woods were treated with MMA. Physical, mechanical, chemical, thermal and morphological features were evaluated. MMA-treated woods from both juvenile and mature woods presented superior physical, mechanical (expect brittleness) and thermal properties when compared to pristine ones. The infrared spectra and morphological analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the presence of the monomer inside the pine wood. The juvenile wood presented higher treatability than the mature wood, due to its higher content of intra- and inter-cellular spaces.

Highlights

Pine trees are important raw materials and may meet some current market demand, due to their rapid growth and high adaptability to different environmental conditions
The treatments with methyl methacrylate (MMA) resulted in changes in physical, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties for both JV and MT from pine
This was indicated by significant increases in Weight percentage gain (WPG) and ρ (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Pine trees are important raw materials and may meet some current market demand, due to their rapid growth and high adaptability to different environmental conditions. Their woods present a large range of applications, such as for civil construction, panels, furniture and packaging. Treatments have been applied to produce modified wood capable of meeting the requirements of each intended purpose. According to Mantanis [2], some recently developed wood treatments have given rise to new modified products, which gradually changed mistaken perspectives of some customers about wood being a fragile, unstable, and degraded construction material. For Sandberg et al [3], the increased interest during the last decades in wood modification can be satisfactorily explained for four reasons:

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