No abstract

Wood is susceptible to photo-degradation in outdoor applications, and deformations occur on its surface such as micro or macro cracks, color changes etc. Especially, cracks make wood material more vulnerable to biotic attacks. In this study, decay resistance of natural and accelerated weathered beech samples was investigated by a brown (Coniophora puteana) and white rot (Coriolus versicolor) fungi attacks. For this purpose, beech samples exposed to natural weathering (NW) for 393 days, and accelerated weathering (AW) for 1512h, and then subjected to decay test in malt extract agar medium for 2 and 4 weeks. After 2 weeks of decay testing, weight loss of samples by C. versicolor was found to be 24.30% for controls, 13.29% for AW samples and 24.38% for NW samples. In the case of C. puteana, it was found as 21.15%, 21.49% and 30.61% for controls, AW samples and NW samples, respectively. Weight loss of samples by C. versicolor was found to be 61.82% for controls, 30.72% for AW samples and 37.62% for NW samples, after 4 weeks of decay testing. The weight loss by 4 weeks exposure of C. puteana was found to be 21.43%, 28.44% and 37.67% for controls, AW samples and NW samples, respectively. Natural weathering caused more weight loss than accelerated weathering test for both fungi species.

Increasing environmental pressures over the last few years have led to attention for non‐biocide treatments in the wood protection field. The ε‐caprolactone modification of wood by substitution or blocking of hydroxyl groups with hydrophobic poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) is one of the novel modification methods developed in recent years. In this study, ring‐opening polymerisation of ε‐caprolactone in wood cell walls was evaluated by the third and sixth re‐use of recovered monomer and by oven‐curing method. Spruce samples were modified by re‐used ε‐caprolactone and exposed to the natural weathering agents for 12 months. After weathering, the colour change, surface roughness measurements, and macroscopic and ultra‐microscopic observations revealed that the modified wood had better surface properties than reference wood. Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) analysis proved that PCL could be found on the weathered surface up to the sixth month, but very little amount was detected on the surfaces with a longer weathering period. The results clearly showed that the efficiency of PCL modification with re‐use of the monomer solution was sufficient during the initial weathering periods, but efficiency was reduced after a prolonged exposure period.