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Journal of Wood Science

Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Distribution of boron in wood treated with aqueous and methanolic boric acid solutions

Journal of Wood Science volume 53, pages 324–331 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The distributions of boron in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) sapwood blocks treated with aqueous or methanolic boric acid [B(OH)3] solutions were explored through Raman spectroscopy and prompt gamma-ray analysis (PGA). B(OH)3 was the sole boron species observed in Raman spectra of the wood blocks treated with either solution. Plots of weight gain of the treated wood blocks versus boron concentration in treatment solutions were found to be linear. The results indicated that the methanolic solution makes it possible to impregnate wood with much larger amounts of boron than the aqueous solution. PGA confirmed that B(OH)3 was highly enriched near the end grains of the treated wood blocks. Raman measurements suggested that boron content in the bulk of the wood block is not as large as expected from the weight gain of the treated wood blocks when an ordinary air-drying method is used. It was concluded that the aqueous solution impregnates the cell walls of wood with boron more easily than the methanolic solution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Wood Technology, Akita Prefectural University, 11-1 Kaieisaka, Noshiro, 016-0876, Japan

    Shigeru Yamauchi

  2. Department of Chemistry, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Daido Institute of Technology, Nagoya, 457-8530, Japan

    Yoichi Sakai & Yasuo Watanabe

  3. Crystals Division, Saint-Gobain K.K., Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan

    Yasuo Watanabe

  4. Division of Natural Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, International Christian University, Tokyo, 181-8585, Japan

    Michael Kenya Kubo

  5. Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki, 319-1195, Japan

    Hideaki Matsue

Authors
  1. Shigeru Yamauchi
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  2. Yoichi Sakai
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  3. Yasuo Watanabe
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  4. Michael Kenya Kubo
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  5. Hideaki Matsue
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Correspondence to Shigeru Yamauchi.

Additional information

Part of this report was presented at the 55th (Kyoto, March 2005) and 56th (Akita, August 2006) Annual Meetings of the Japan Wood Research Society. This article follows the previous rapid communication “Analysis of boron in wood treated with boric acid solutions using Doppler broadening method of prompt gamma-rays.” J Wood Sci (2006) 52:279–281

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Yamauchi, S., Sakai, Y., Watanabe, Y. et al. Distribution of boron in wood treated with aqueous and methanolic boric acid solutions. J Wood Sci 53, 324–331 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0863-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0863-7

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