Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

The swelling of wood in polar organic solvents

From National Research Council Canada

Download
  1. (PDF, 1.8 MiB)
AuthorSearch for: 1
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada
FormatText, Article
SubjectBuildings; wood (species); swelling; polar solvents
Abstract
The effectiveness of dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, N-methyl pyrrolidone, and pyridine in swelling yellow birch, beech, white pine, and Douglas-fir was determined. Changes in the radial and tangential dimensions during simple immersion were followed until maximum swelling was obtained. The complete swelling behavior in cases of rapid swelling was found to be described by the hyperbolic formula: swelling at time t = equilibrium swelling -- b/time. b is the swelling resistance coefficient. For slower swelling, in the initial period the swelling is directly proportional to time, not to its square root. Birch was swollen the most by solvents, and pine the least, in relation to their densities. Beach and pine swelled the fastest, while Douglas-fir was most resistant. Dimethyl sulfoxide caused the greatest final swelling, but dimethylformamide swelled wood more rapidly. The latter solvent could be used with simple immersion, except with fir. To swell wood effectively with dimethyl sulfoxide would require a vacuum impregnation process.
Publication date
In
  • Wood Science 6, no. 2 (October 1973): 159–166.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
IdentifierDBR-RP-586
NRC numberNRCC 13742
NRC-IRC-2712
NPARC number20374788
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifiera4973a54-7f52-498b-8c91-1d9920aa4e06
Record created2012-07-23
Record modified2024-01-11
Date modified: