Thermal treatments to improve the dimensional stability and durability of wood for exterior applications impart a pleasant dark brown colour but this rapidly fades to gray when exposed to weathering. A coating may solve this problem but adhesion to oil-thermal-treated wood may be an issue. The general objective of this research is to investigate the feasibility of coating oil-thermal-treated post-Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) lodgepole pine for above-ground residential products such as siding. This is a continuation of previous research in 2006/07 on treating post-MPB lodgepole pine sapwood with oil-thermal treatment, also funded by FII. The current project focuses on surface modification and coating systems evaluation for this treated pine by laboratory tests, and initiating field tests for monitoring long-term coatings performance.
The project was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Paul Cooper of the University of Toronto, Dr. Phil Evans of the University of British Columbia, and Dr. Sam Williams of the Forest Products Laboratory of USDA. Based on the study carried out by FPInnovations–Forintek Division, Sikkens Cetol 123 and SuperNatural showed good adhesion on oil-thermal-treated pine, but the appearance of SuperNatural was preferable for the targeted applications. Hence, SuperNatural was selected for a long-term field test in Vancouver.
Based on the study undertaken by FPL, an aluminum isopropoxide sol-gel precursor was able to improve surface adhesion of the oil-thermal-treated wood for a water-borne finish, but did not improve the adhesion for solvent-borne finishes. The oil-thermal treatment did not appear to appreciably change the hardness or Young’s modulus of the wood based on the nano-indentation measurements. It was also found that the oil-thermal-treated wood could be easily treated with hydroxymethylated resorcinol (HMR), a coupling agent for coating. Its efficacy on coatings performance is being evaluated using an outdoor exposure test.
Based on the University of Toronto’s study, the oil-thermal treatment reduced the wettability of the wood to a number of solvents and had an adverse effect on coating curing and adhesion. Light sanding improved the wetting and resulted in improved adhesion. Among all the finishes evaluated, SuperNatural clear finish formed a hard coat with good adhesion.
The study by the University of British Columbia found that plasma treatment is able to remove oil from the surface of oil-thermal-treated pine, and increased its wettability as well as adhesion to coatings. Scanning electron microscopy, confocal profileometry, and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy also indicated that high-energy plasma treatment impacted wood structures, particularly around pits. The consequence of the plasma treatment on coatings performance is being studied with a weathering test.
Overall, the study showed that oil-thermal-treated blue-stained pine can be coated to improve weathering performance for exterior above-ground applications. It confirmed that sanding can improve the coatings performance. The effects of a coupling agent and plasma treatment on coatings performance are to be reported. Thermal modifications may provide a promising way to improve dimensional stability and also mask blue stain for post-MPB lodgepole pine. However, the potential bleeding of oil from wood with initially intense blue stain poses a major challenge for coating application and for developing residential appearance products from the post-MPB lodgepole pine using such an oil-thermal treatment. In that case, alternative thermal treatment processes, particularly using steam as the heating medium, could be considered.