Effects of chemical modification with glutaraldehyde on the weathering performance of Scots pine sapwood

Scots pine sapwood was treated with glutaraldehyde (GA) in aqueous solution using magnesium chloride as a catalyst in order to evaluate the durability towards weathering. Infrared spectroscopy suggested that GA treatment increased the photo-stability of lignin during artificial weathering of micro-veneers in a QUV over 168 h; photo-protection increased with increasing GA concentration. In comparison with the unmodified controls, GA-modified pine micro-veneer strips exhibited a lower tensile strength loss measured in a zero-span mode in the course of weathering. During 18 months of outdoor exposure, GA-modified pine wood boards exhibited a lower moisture content and water uptake than the unmodified ones. GA treatment also clearly restricted the penetration of blue stain fungi into deeper layers of wood. On the macroscopic scale, the surface of the GA-modified boards was significantly smoother due to less erosion, cracking and minor peeling of tracheids. Scanning electron microscopy further revealed that individual tracheids were detached from the cell compound and then washed away from the unmodified wood surface, whereas tracheids on surfaces of GA-modified wood remained in the tissue compound but displayed many axial and transversal cracks.