Research and Development

Annotation:

The project studies wood surface properties. The main objective is physical and chemical modifications of wood surface and of film-forming materials (coating and gluing substances), with the aim to control wood interactions with these materials in liquid and solid phase. There are also investigated multiple factors influencing wood surface properties (wood species, moisture content, mechanical treatment mode; surface pre-treatment with plasma, nano-particles, natural polymers, heat, and similar), and the way how these factors affect wood interactions with film-forming materials. The project covers: 

• morphology, chemical structure and discolouration in different modified wood surfaces,
• wood wetting with standard liquids, coating and gluing substances; specifying wood thermo-dynamic characteristics,
• phenomena at the interface wood – film-forming material in liquid and solid phase,
• stress patterns developed at the interface wood – film-forming material and in glue lines developed under different loading modes
• testing new materials (fillers, additives, colloids) with unique adsorption and physical-mechanical performance with the aim to obtain modified surfaces and gluing mixtures with specified properties,
• wood discolouration, wood degradation and the colour stability of treated surface in ageing process

For all these research areas, there have been specified partial goals and the methodology appropriate. This comprehensive approach should give optimum parameters guaranteeing appropriate wood surface quality. The results will serve as background for designing methods for purpose-oriented wood surface modification aimed to improve the quality and stability of surface treatment and of glued joints, and to decelerate the ageing process of the original wood substrate and of the treated wood surface.