Sol–gel derived TiO₂ wood composites

The sol–gel process was applied to enhance properties of pine sapwood. For this purpose wood prisms were soaked in nanoscaled precursor solutions prepared from titanium(IV) n-butoxide and titanium(IV) iso-propoxide, respectively, using vacuum impregnation technique. The wet composites were cured by special program with final heat treatment at 103 °C. Weight percent gains (WPG) of the wood specimen in the range of 19–25% were obtained due to these procedures. SEM investigations show that precursor solutions penetrate into the whole wood body and the titania formed after heat treatment in the composites is deposited in the pores (lumen) and partly in the cell walls of the wooden matrix. The moisture sorption was investigated in long term tests for a period of some months by storage at 20–23 °C in humid air (relative humidity of 99%) and ambient atmosphere (relative humidity 40–60%), respectively. For untreated reference samples the moisture sorption results in increasing of mass and volume according to saturation values of 24 and 13%, respectively, after about 15 days. The incorporation of titania reduces the saturation values of the moisture sorption by up to 12% in mass and by up to 5% in volume at a relative humidity of 99%. Thus, an enhancement of the dimensional stability of about 60% is obtained at best. The results demonstrate that modification of wood with sol–gel derived precursors can enhance its dimensional stability, which prevents the formation of cracks. Because of that reduced moisture sorption biological attacks should be delimited. Additionally, thermal analyses show a retarded combustion of the wood matrix due to titania infiltration.