Durability, reaction to fire properties, and environmental impact of treated and untreated wooden claddings

Abstract

This work summarizes the output of durability, reaction to fire properties, and environmental impact of wooden claddings subjected to treatments modified with TiO₂ and clay nanoparticles. The objective was to investigate the effects of 1 wt% of TiO₂ and clay nanoparticles in existing water-based and stain coatings and preservatives regarding the properties mentioned above. Water vapor resistance properties were used to assess the moisture transfer properties of the specimens by using the cup test. The reactions to fire properties of the specimens were analyzed using small-scale cone calorimeter test. Accelerated aging was used to study the weathering properties of specimens, where the performance of the specimens with aging was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The effect of increasing the percentage of nanoparticles from 1 wt% to 3 wt% on the weathering properties of the specimens was further analyzed. Moreover, comparison between the overall environmental impact between unmodified water-based paint and water-based paint modified with 1 wt% of TiO₂ nanoparticles was performed using available environmental data and weathering test results as analyzed by FTIR.

Keywords:

• Wood treatments
• accelerated aging
• water vapour resistance
• FTIR
• LCA
• TiO₂ nanoparticles
• nanoclay

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Moelven Wood for providing preservatives and many helpful discussions; Gjøco AS and Jotun AS for providing paint; Erik Larnøy, Andreas Treu, and Britta Witt of the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute for their support by impregnation; Erling Stenhaugat of SINTEF NBL for his assistance in the application of the cone calorimeter; and Ole Aunrønning for his help with various laboratory tasks. The financial support by the Research Council of Norway is also gratefully acknowledged.