Provided is a process for chemically modifying wood or non-wood comprising: (a) impregnating said wood or non-wood with an aqueous composition comprising an acid polymerization catalyst; (b) impregnating the wood or non-wood product from step (a) with 3-furfuryl borate (3-FB); and (c) subjecting the wood product from (b) for a time and under conditions to affect polymerization of the 3-FB. Modified wood and non-wood products are also provided.

To provide a board material processing composition allowing for production of a board material laminate that is non-combustible and is excellent in adhesion performance. In order to solve this problem, a board material processing composition inhibiting combustion of a board material due to heating, comprises: a carbonization promotion component, being inorganic, promoting carbonization of an organic component within the board material at the heating; a chain inhibition component, being inorganic, inhibiting a reaction chain to a neighboring component due to a product of endothermic decomposition generated at the heating; and binder particles, being inorganic and hydrophobic, bonding the organic component within the board material to the carbonization promotion component and the chain inhibition component, wherein the carbonization promotion component includes boric acid, the chain inhibition component includes ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, and the binder particles include silica sand.

Disclosed herein is a method of remediating chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated timber. Particularly, the method comprises contacting the CCA timber with an oxidative solvent and an acidic solvent which provides remediated timber and a variety of extracts containing amongst other things the metals of concern. One or more of the steps is conducted using continuous counter current extraction (CCE).

A transparent wood surface imprinting optical device is provided. A preparation method for the device includes cleaning and drying surfaces of transparent wood, spin-coating polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) on a substrate of the transparent wood to obtain a PMMA layer, and spin-coating an ultraviolet (UV) glue on the PMMA layer to obtain a UV glue layer; placing the transparent wood on a silicon wafer, attaching a transparent grating array imprinting template on the UV glue layer, exposing the UV glue layer, and removing the transparent grating array imprinting after the exposing, thereby to obtain a grating-structure-based transparent wood; and replacing the grating structure imprinting template by a lattice structure imprinting template to prepare lattice-structure-based transparent wood. The diffraction efficiency of the grating structure and the lattice structure on the transparent wood are greater and more stable than those of PMMA substrates.

The present invention relates to a method for continuous acetylation of wood elements. The acetylation is conducted with an acetylation medium at a pressure of at least 1.5 barg in a substantially oxygen free environment. Alternatively, the method according to the invention comprises the steps of: (a) feeding wood elements in a substantially oxygen free environment to a continuous acetylation reactor, and (b) treating the wood elements with an acetylation medium in the continuous acetylation reactor under wood acetylation reaction conditions, at a pressure of at least 1.5 barg.

The process according to the present invention allows to acetylate wood elements to a high acetyl content in a very efficient way, without compromising on the quality of the material. The acetylated wood elements can be used in the production of medium density fibreboards with superior qualities such as dimensional stability and durability.

Highly transparent (up to 92% light transmittance) wood composites have been developed. The process of fabricating the transparent wood composites includes lignin removal followed by index-matching polymer infiltration resulted in fabrication of the transparent wood composites with preserved naturally aligned nanoscale fibers. The thickness of the transparent wood composite can be tailored by controlling the thickness of the initial wood substrate. The optical transmittance can be tailored by selecting infiltrating polymers with different refractive indices. The transparent wood composites have a range of applications in biodegradable electronics, optoelectronics, as well as structural and energy efficient building materials. By coating the transparent wood composite layer on the surface of GaAs thin film solar cell, an 18% enhancement in the overall energy conversion efficiency has been attained.

An arrangement for feeding wood particles into an impregnating stage of a wood treatment process comprises a feed silo (301, 701), at least one impregnating vessel (305, 601, 602, 603, 703) for receiving wood particles into said impregnating stage, and two or more conveyors (302, 303, 304, 501, 502, 503, 702) between said feed silo (301, 701) and said at least one impregnating vessel (305, 601, 602, 603, 703), for transferring wood particles from said feed silo (301, 701) to said at least one impregnating vessel (305, 601, 602, 603, 703). Each of said conveyors (302, 303, 304, 501, 502, 503, 702) is a compressing conveyor for applying pressure to the wood particles on their way through the respective conveyor.

A method for preparing a wood preservative composition, includes modifying lignin with Na.sub.2B.sub.4O.sub.7 or NaNO.sub.3 and then with a chromium (II) salt, copper (II), cadmium (II) or zinc (II), for example, metal nitrates (Cr(NO.sub.3).sub.2, Cu(NO.sub.3).sub.2, Cd(NO.sub.3).sub.2, Zn(NO.sub.3).sub.2); to the preservative obtainable by this method; and to a method for preserving wood; and to the preserved wood. The preservative prevents degradation by xylophagous and fungal agents, and also improves some properties of the wood, and the hygroscopicity and fire resistance.

A process for treating lignocellulosic pieces with a water-soluble lignocellulosic material preservative. The process comprises the step of contacting the lignocellulosic pieces with a water-based preservative solution having a contact temperature between about 70 C. and about 95 C., the water-based preservative solution containing the water-soluble lignocellulosic material preservative in a concentration above about 25% wt. A lignocellulosic treatment apparatus for treating lignocellulosic pieces is also provided.

The present invention relates to an outdoor bamboo floor and a manufacturing method thereof, in particular, to an outdoor bamboo floor subjected to an immersion treatment using hot oil. Conduits or other capillary structures of a bamboo material in the outdoor bamboo floor of the present invention are filled with an oil medium, with an oil content of 2-10%. The manufacturing method includes immersing a plate blank of the bamboo floor in a hydrophobic organic medium at 100-300 C. for 1-10h, and are statically cooled down to a room temperature after being taken out.