Wood is susceptible to fungal degradation, but the susceptibility may be reduced by a range of non-toxic wood modification methods. The exact mechanisms responsible for the protective effect are not entirely clear, but are for some methods known to have to do with a reduced moisture content in the wood cell walls. To explore how different wood modification systems function is interesting per se, and it is also helpful when designing novel wood modification systems aimed at for example simplifying process set-ups or reducing modification costs. Acetylation is one of the most well-known non-toxic wood modification methods. Acetylation implies that wood is impregnated with acetic anhydride and thereafter cured. This causes part of the hydroxyl groups within the wood cell wall biopolymers to be replaced by acetyl groups. By tuning the acetylation protocol, samples with different acetylation profiles can be designed and their interactions with water and fungi studied. This is helpful when trying to understand how and where modification is needed to prevent fungal decay, and which role the content and location of moisture plays in this. Such studies can also help clarify the interactions between fungal decay mechanisms and the presence of moisture within the xylem tissue. Spatially resolved chemical information at the scale needed for this endeavor is offered by Raman microscopy. In the present study Raman microscopy data analyzed with MCR-ALS (Multiplicative Curve Resolution - Alternating Least Squares) were used to document that Norway spruce wood specimens with different acetylation profiles could be produced by varying the acetylation conditions. The conditions were varied by omitting or allowing the xylem tissue to swell in pyridine during the acetylation, and by regulating the time and temperature of the impregnation step. In this way, documented acetylation was achieved of either the whole cell wall, part of the cell wall or of cell wall lumen surface. The amount and location of water within the differently acetylated wood specimens was studied using the Raman microscopy data as well as by use of other experimental methods, including Low-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and sorption balance techniques.

Mapping targeted acetylation of Norway spruce wood by use of Raman microscopy

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.