Surface wettability of Brazilian tropical wood flooring treated with He plasma.

This study investigated the effect of plasma treatment on changes of surface wettability of wood flooring from two Brazilian tropical species, Hymenaea spp. (rode locus) and Tabebuia spp. (lapacho). Wood flooring samples were plasma treated at low pressure in a helium atmosphere. Energy level was set at 100 W and four glow discharge times (5, 15, 30 and 45 s) were tested. Changes in wettability were investigated by measuring apparent contact angle, droplet volume and spreading contact area. The results showed less susceptibility of lapacho wood to the plasma treatments, while reduction of apparent contact angle in rode locus wood reached up to 76% for longer discharge times. In general, discharge time of 15 s produced the same effect as discharge of 45 s on wettability, which is important for industrial applications. Visual analyses revealed increase of water droplet spreading on lapacho wood surface, even though the variation of spreading contact area was not significant. Plasma treatment is feasible to improve wettability of tropical woods. Nevertheless, these findings should be investigated further due to the intrinsic characteristics of woods from tropical species.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	CADEMARTORI, P. H. G. de, NISGOSKI, S., MAGALHAES, W. L. E., BOLZON DE MUNIZ, G. I.
Other Authors:	Pedro Henrique G. de Cademartori, Doutorando da UFPR; Silvana Nisgoski, UFPR; WASHINGTON LUIZ ESTEVES MAGALHAES, CNPF; Graciela Ines B. de Muniz, UFPR.
Format:	Artigo de periódico biblioteca
Language:	English eng
Published:	2016-10-24
Subjects:	Piso de madeira, Gás hélio, Molhabilidade, Glow discharge, Plasma treatment, Spreading, Surface modification, Wetting, Helium gas., Plasma, Tratamento., Contact angle,
Online Access:	http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1055273
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!