Polyethylene Glycol Treatment of Han-Ok Round Wood Components to Prevent Surface Checking

Abstract

The effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment was investigated relative to surface checks of red and Korean pine round wood for building Koreanstyle homes. The logs used for this study were impregnated with a solution of PEG-1000 for three weeks, and then they were dried to a moisture content of about 15% at the temperature of 120 °C within the drying time of 49 h. During the middle stage of drying, slight surface checks were found on red pine PEG-treated logs compared with severe surface checks on red pine control logs. Due to PEG treatment and high drying temperature, at the end of drying, apparent surface check was not found on red pine PEG-treated logs compared with serious surface checks on the corresponding control log. No surface checks were discovered on Korean pine logs during and after drying due to the PEG effect. Thus, PEG treatment was effective in preventing surface checks on red and Korean pine logs during drying at high temperature.

Incidencia de la impregnación de madera con alcohol polivinilico y polietilenglicol en algunas propiedades físicas y mecánicas de Pino oocarpa

“…Un tratamiento alternativo a los métodos de modificación química de la madera es la impregnación de polímeros, los cuales pueden reducir los fenómenos de la contracción e hinchazón de la madera y mejorar las propiedades físicas y mecánicas (Rowell 2006, Giridhar et al 2017, Berube et al 2017, Behr et al 2017, Xiao et al 2018, Gardner y Bozo 2018, Yu et al 2018. Uno de los tratamientos es la impregnación de productos para el engrosamiento de la pared celular, donde los productos químicos son depositados dentro de la misma; se utilizan diferentes productos químicos, sales de sodio, bario y magnesio, azucares, resinas sintéticas, y la alternativa de gran relevancia como es el polietilenglicol (PEG) material de origen sintético con características principales de biocompatibilidad, solubilidad en agua, no tóxico y bajo costo, el cual penetra en las paredes y lúmenes de la madera (Cooper et al 1991, Lutz y Hoth 2006, Bardet et al 2006, Kocabaş 2014, Kang et al 2017.…”

Modification of spruce wood by UV-crosslinked PEG hydrogels inside wood cell walls

“…The mechanism of PEG impregnation in waterlogged wood is based on exchange of PEG with water molecules, thus reduction of intercellular stresses produced during drying is avoided and less cracking or shrinkage is observed [19]. PEG is still being used for preservation of archeological wood, as shown by conservation efforts on the Vasa and Yenikapi shipwrecks [20,21] and pre-treatment of logs [22]. Besides, PEG can establish intermolecular interactions with lignin through aromatic side groups [23].…”