Protection of Oak Wood (<i>Quercus conferta</i> Kit.) From Liquid Water Uptake with Water Repellents

Authors

  • E. Voulgaridis

Keywords:

Water repellents, natural resin, oak wood, rate of swelling

Abstract

Eight water-repellent formulations based on both a synthetic resin (straight chain hydrocarbon resin) and natural resin were applied to small cross-sectional specimens of broadleaved oak wood. Treated sapwood specimens were protected against liquid water entry to a significant degree, while heartwood specimens exhibited high self-protecting ability and their treatment with water repellents appeared to be less beneficial. By increasing the concentration of hydrophobic substance (paraffin wax) from 1 to 5% in the solution, an increased water-repellent effectiveness was achieved. Simple resin formulations (without paraffix wax) were found to be less effective than resin/wax formulations in sapwood, while in heartwood differences were much smaller. Natural resin from Aleppo pine trees was equally effective to straight chain hydrocarbon resin, and hence it may successfully replace synthetic resins in water-repellent formulations.

References

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Published

2007-06-22

Issue

Number 1 / January 1988

Section

Research Contributions

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