Enhancing UV-protection of clear coated wood by utilizing reactive UV-absorber and epoxyfunctionalized soybean oil

Sammanfattning: This work presents the development of a new pretreatment for clear coated wood, that aims to increase the photoprotection of exterior wood products, and at the same time make the system more environmentally friendly. The pretreatment comprises the reactive UV absorber 2-hydroxy-4(2,3-epoxy­propoxy)-benzophenone (HEPBP), which has a primary epoxy group that can be covalently attached to the hydroxyl groups of the wood substrate. This reactant is accompanied by renewable epoxy functionalized soybean oil (ESBO), which contains a secondary epoxy group that also has the ability to react with the substrate and that promotes the compatibility between the two reactants. The ESBO further seems to have the advantage of increasing the flexibility of the pretreated veneers as well as decreasing the amount of water in the cell wall of the wood. The study was performed in two parts where the first part focused solely on the development and performance of the pretreatment, whereas the second part used the knowledge gained from part one to evaluate the pretreatment in combination with an acrylic clear coating. Grafting reactions were performed on thin wood veneers heated in solvent. In the first part the reaction parameters, temperature and reaction time, were varied to study their effects on the final properties of the pretreatments. The veneers where then analyzed using FTIR to determine if grafting was achieved. Results show that grafting was successful for reactions performed at temperatures above 90 °C. For part two, grafting was successful for both the boil- and dip process, indicating that a considerably shorter reaction time can be used. Samples from both part one and two where then exposed to accelerated ageing and the color change was measured to estimate the UV-resistance. The first part showed improved UV-resistance for some of the pretreatments, whereas the second part was more difficult to evaluate due to the top coat, but a slight improvement can be seen for samples using the pretreatment. A positive result for part two is also that the pretreatment do not appear to affect the adhesion between the substrate and the top coat. It is hence concluded that the proposed pretreatment is a possible way of increasing the photostability of exterior wood.