Improvement of decay resistance of wood by in-situ hybridization of reactive monomers and nano-SiO 2 within wood

In order to improve the decay resistance of wood, we propose a novel method by in-situ hybridization of reactive monomers and nano-SiO 2 within wood porous structure to modify wood structure and chemical components. Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), and polyethylene glycol-200 dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) were first mixed and then penetrated into poplar wood cell lumen by vacuum/pressure treatments, followed by in-situ hybridization under an initiation condition. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations described that the polymer-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite filled up cavities and tightly contacted the wood cell wall. Nano-SiO 2 particles were uniformly dispersed into the formed polymer within wood pores. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis suggested that the nano-SiO 2 probably chemical bonded to the polymer during the monomer polymerization. The derived wood-based polymer-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite exhibited remarkably improvement in decay resistance over the untreated wood as controls. Such treatment could potentially widen the wood applications with outstanding decay resistance.