The Effect of Water Repellent Chemical (Ruco-DryEco®) Used in The Textile Sector on Some Physical Properties of Wood


Kapçak V.

Bartın Orman Fakültesi Dergisi, vol.25, no.1, pp.43-57, 2023 (Peer-Reviewed Journal) identifier

Abstract

The effect of a water repellent chemical used in the textile sector on some physical properties of wood was investigated in this study. Uludağ Fir (Abies bornmülleriana Mattf) and Beech (Fagus Orientalis Lipsky) were used as a wood and a commercial water repellent chemical named Ruco-DryEco® (RD), a fluorocarbon-free water-based product used in the textile industry, was used as a chemical. This chemical is used as an 3% aqueous solution in the textile industry. So, in this study 5% and 10% solution of RD was used. After the treatment with 5% and 10% solutions, the expected water repellency was not achieved and the study was repeated at 50% concentration. Weight percent gain (WPG), swelling effect (SE), water uptake (WU), water repellent efficiency (WRE), volumetric swelling (WS) and anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) values of the woods were determined and, were compared with the values of the untreated control samples. It was determined that, as the concentration of solution increases, WPG and SE values increase. In addition, the increase in impregnation time and the use of binders also cause a relatively small increase in WPG values. On the SE, it was observed that impregnation time was not very effective. The WU of the samples decreased slightly compared to the WU of the control group. The higher the amount of water repellent attached to the material, the lower the rate of WU. WS of all treatment groups was found to be less than that of the control group. However, the effect of the impregnation was found to be less with low concentration solutions. For both wood species, higher ASE values were obtained as solution concentration increased.