Determination of the combined effect of chemical modification and compression of agatis wood on the dimensional stability, termite resistance, and morphological structure
Abdul Khalil H.P.S.a, Dungani R.b, Mohammed I.A.c, Hossain M.S.a, Sri Aprilia N.A.a,d, Budiarso E.e, Rosamah E.e
a School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia
b School of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia
c Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia
d Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 21111, Indonesia
e Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, 75119, Indonesia
Abstract
Agatis wood (Agathis lorantifolia Salisb.) was impregnated with a combination of styrene and methyl methacrylate and compressed to a strain of 50% to improve dimensional stability and termite resistance. The changes in cell structure were analyzed to determine the effects of the combination treatment. The results showed that densification of agatis wood with compression, impregnation, and a combination of treatments resulted in an increase in physical properties (density and dimensional stability) by changing the cellular structure and chemical components (i.e., cellulose crystallinity, microfibril angle, and preferred orientation of fibers) as well as degradation of cellulose. The chemical modification and combination treatment (chemical and compression) of wood generally led to a high resistance to dry wood termites.
Author keywords
Agathis lorantifolia,Cellulose crystallinity,Chemical component,Combination treatments,Methyl methacrylates,Microfibril angles,Morphological structures,Preferred orientations
Indexed keywords
Agathis lorantifolia,Dimensional stability,Microfibril angle,Termite resistance,Wood compregnated,Wood compressed,Wood impregnated