Open Access

ARTICLE

In Situ Generation of Copper Nanoparticles in Heat-Treated Copper-Containing Masson’s Pine as a Preservative Process for Sawn Timber

Minting Lai, Guijun Xie^*, Wanju Li, Lamei Li, Yongjian Cao

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, 510520, China

* Corresponding Author: Guijun Xie. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Renewable Biomass as a Platform for Preparing Green Chemistry)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2023, 11(6), 2665-2678. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2023.027441

Received 30 October 2022; Accepted 30 November 2022; Issue published 27 April 2023

Abstract

Heat-treated wood has good dimensional stability, durability, and color, but its susceptibility to fungal growth affects its commercial value. In this study, lumber harvested from mature Masson’s pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) was vacuum impregnated with a basic copper salt solution (copper hydroxide, diethanolamine, and polyethylene glycol 200) prior to heat-treatment at 220°C for 3 h. Antifungal properties, surface chemistry, crystal structure and sugar contents were tested, compared with heat treatment alone. The results showed that the samples treated by heating without copper salt treatment showed poor suppression of fungal growth, the copper-impregnated heat-treated wood suppressed (100%) the growth of Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat., Aspergillus niger V. Tiegh., Penicillium citrinum Thom, and Trichoderma viride Pers. The combined results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and sugars analysis suggested that fungal inhibition by the heat-treated copper-bearing Masson’s pine was mainly due to the reduction of the metal salt by PEG200 at high temperature to generate copper nanoparticles. In addition, the reduced sugar content of the treated timber, and hence the nutrient substrate for spoilage microbes, reduced in the presence of the metal salts at high-temperature. This study has demonstrated an effective method of increasing low-grade wood’s utility and commercial value.

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