Open Access

ARTICLE

Hydrophobic Poplar Prepared via High Voltage Electric Field (HVEF) with Copper as Electrode Plate

Jianxin Cui^1,#, Zehui Ju^1,#, Lu Hong², Biqing Shu^1,3, Xiaoning Lu^1,*
1 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
2 School of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China
3 College of Civil Engineering, Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, Yangzhou, 225127, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiaon Lu. Email:
# These authors are contributed equally to this work
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Renewable Material from Agricultural Waste and By-Product and Its Applications)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2022, 10(11), 2907-2919. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2022.019270

Received 13 September 2021; Accepted 24 November 2021; Issue published 29 June 2022

Abstract

In order to improve hydrophobic characteristics which will affect the service performance of fast-growing poplar due to growing bacteria in the humid environment. In this study, a simple method was proposed to treat poplar via the high voltage electric field (HVEF) with copper as the electrode plate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and contact angle tester were adopted to evaluate the surface morphology, surface group of poplar, crystallinity and wettability under HVEF. It was found by SEM that a large number of copper particles were uniformly attached to the surface of poplar. In all three sections, the weight percentage of the Cu element was accounting for more than half. The diffraction peaks of copper-containing compounds appeared in the (XRD). FTIR analysis confirmed that the reaction between copper and poplar took place. The surface contact angle of three sections of poplar increased in the following order: cross section < radial section < tangential section (increased by 34°, 45° and 53°, respectively). An environmentfriendly and efficient method of HVEF treating fast-growing wood with copper as the electrode plate can promote its outdoor application.

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Keywords

Poplar; high voltage electric field; wettability; hydrophobic; copper particles

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