Abstract:

Objective: In order to protect the surface and improve the visual effect of wood, this paper presents a preparation method and properties of the green, environmentally-friendly and fast-drying wax oil for wood, which provides theoretical basis and technical supports for the development and industrialization of wood wax oil. Method: Taking natural and renewable vegetable oil and wax as the main film-forming materials, ascorbic acid 6-palmitate (L-AsA₆P) and iron[III] 2-ethylhexanoate (Fe-eh) were used as the synergistic drying agent to prepare an environmentally-friendly and fast-drying wood wax oil. Then the commercial wood wax oil as the control group, Entandrophragma cylindricum was used as the coating substrate, and the properties of the film were also evaluated. Result: The experimental results showed that the ratio of L-AsA₆P to Fe-eh had significant effects on the drying time, glossiness and contact angle of wood wax oil. It had the fastest dry speed when the molar ratio of L-AsA₆P to Fe³⁺ in Fe-eh was 5∶1, its surface dry time was 1.2 h and the actual dry time was 3.5 h; compared with the dry time of reference samples, it was decreased by 25% and 34.3%, respectively. Its glossiness was increased by 1.1 times, and the contact angle was always kept above 95°, so the purposes that improving the visual effect and hydrophobicity of wood was achieved. In addition, the hardness, adhesion, water resistance of the film were similar to those of control group, and the total color difference（ΔE) was lower. The analysis of digital images collected by scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the prepared wood wax oil not only filled the bare cell cavities on the surface of the substrate, but also penetrated into the inside of the wood through the pits. It was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopies that the esterification reaction took place between carboxyl groups in the fatty acid chains of wood wax oil and hydroxyl groups in the substrate, which formed strong chemical bonds, and presented excellent adhesion performance. Conclusion: L-AsA₆P and Fe-eh as the synergistic drying agents had positive effects on increasing the drying speed of the wood wax oil. When the molar ratio of L-AsA₆P to Fe³⁺ was 5∶1, the prepared wood wax oil had the best drying performance, strong adhesion and protection abilities to the substrate. Furthermore, it could improve the surface decoration effect of the substrate effectively.

Key words: wood wax oil, finishing, environment protection, fast-drying, wood