Effect of Thermal Treatment with Methylolurea Impregnated on Poplar Wood

The aim of this research was to study the physical and chemical performance of poplar wood treated by chemi-thermal modification. A thermal treatment was used to catalyze the effect of the methylolurea impregnated pre-treatment by curing the poplar wood at 160 °C under atmospheric conditions. The results showed that the thermal treatment played an important role in the chemical and mechanical performance. Such an approach not only can significantly reduce the hygroscopicity, but also can increase the bending strength and compressive strength parallel to grain. The positions of the XRD peaks did not change, which indicated that the structure of cellulose was not noticeably affected by the thermal treatment. The FT-IR analysis showed that the intensity of hydroxyl and carbonyl absorption peaks decreased significantly, which indicated that the NH-CH2-OH of methylolurea reacted with the wood carboxyl (C=O) and hydroxyl (-OH). The TGA showed that the thermal stability of treated wood improved. The SEM showed that the cell wall and vessels were filled with impregnated chemicals.