A method for improving the hydrophobic properties of a cellulosic material having a measurable moisture content without leaving an acidic residue comprises immersing the material in an inert gas, treating the material at a first temperature of between about 180° F. and about 250° F. with a vapor of silane until the silane reacts with the moisture to form hydroxysilanes and an acid vapor, then treating the material at a second temperature of between about 280° F. and about 350° F. until the hydroxysilanes convert to dehydrated silanes that are diffusely resident in the material, and removing the moisture, the acid vapor and remaining silane vapor until the treated material is substantially acid free.

The present invention relates to a method for drying wood by using microwaves. The method for drying wood by using microwaves, according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprises the steps of: preparing wood; wrapping at least a portion of the wood by using a wrapping member; applying microwaves to the wood wrapped with the wrapping member to raise the temperature inside the wrapping member; removing the wrapping member from the wood wrapped with the wrapping member; and drying moisture of an outer layer of the wood from which the wrapping member has been removed.

Methods of making, and the resultant monolithic drum shell for a musical instrument, that include selecting one or more desired wood fibers, providing a resinous binder solution, and immersing the wood fibers within the resinous binder solution for a duration that saturates and covers the wood fibers with the resinous binder solution to form a drum shell liquid composition. The drum shell liquid composition is deposited into a mold, and then cured to form a monolithic composite drum shell. The monolithic composite drum shell is removed from the mold to provide a ready-to-use drum shell for assembling into a musical instrument.

A method for manufacturing a transparent heat-insulation building material from waste wood is provided. The method includes the following steps of: step S1, wood pretreatment, drying immersing, heating, adding a complexing agent solution, stirring, then drying the wood; step S2, wood acetylation treatment, loading the wood into a pressure vessel, adding acetylation fluid, reducing the pressure, and then pressurizing and raising a temperature; step S3, resin impregnating, adding a methyl methacrylate monomer solution and heating it, adding the methyl methacrylate monomer and benzoyl peroxide, bleaching the wood by hydrogen peroxide, and placing them in a vacuum permeator to allow the prepolymer liquid to penetrate into the wood and collecting the prepolymer liquid; and step S4, hot press molding polymerizing the wood in an oven and sleeving it into a heat press molding to obtain a densified wood.

Methods for treating cellulosic materials comprising introducing a liquid treating composition into the cellulosic material, the treating composition comprising a solution prepared from at least: (i) one or more of a copper amine complex or copper ammine complex, such as copper tetraamine carbonate, (ii) one or more of ammonia or a water-soluble amine and (iii) water; and exposing the cellulosic material provided thereby to carbon dioxide and/or carbonic acid to provide treated cellulosic material, and treated cellulosic materials prepared thereby.

Methods of making, and the resultant monolithic drum shell for a musical instrument, that include selecting one or more desired wood fibers, providing a resinous binder solution, and immersing the wood fibers within the resinous binder solution for a duration that saturates and covers the wood fibers with the resinous binder solution to form a drum shell liquid composition. The drum shell liquid composition is deposited into a mold, and then cured to form a monolithic composite drum shell. The monolithic composite drum shell is removed from the mold to provide a ready-to-use drum shell for assembling into a musical instrument.

Methods for treating cellulosic materials comprising introducing a liquid treating composition into the cellulosic material, the treating composition comprising an aqueous alkaline copper-containing solution comprising copper tetraammine carbonate; and exposing the cellulosic material provided thereby to carbon dioxide to provide treated cellulosic material.

Methods of making, and the resultant monolithic drum shell for a musical instrument, that include selecting one or more desired wood fibers, providing a resinous binder solution, and immersing the wood fibers within the resinous binder solution for a duration that saturates and covers the wood fibers with the resinous binder solution to form a drum shell liquid composition. The drum shell liquid composition is deposited into a mold, and then cured to form a monolithic composite drum shell. The monolithic composite drum shell is removed from the mold to provide a ready-to-use drum shell for assembling into a musical instrument.

The present invention relates to the creation of thermally insulating materials derived from cellulosic materials by selectively depolymerizing the materials anatomy. Cellulosic materials may be comprised of three main biopolymers: lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The present invention relates to the chemical and physical removal of lignin and hemicellulose, while leaving the cellulose unaltered to induce increased porosity within the material and the material's macrostructure matrix for use as thermal and acoustic insulation. The increased porosity will be due to the creation of closed cell voids within the cellulosic matrix. These voids will increase the thermal and acoustic insulating performance of the cellulosic materials. The selective removal of secondary biopolymers from cellulosic materials allow for isolation of other value added products that can be regenerated through fewer reactions/steps. This is a novel advantage over other similar processes that dissolve cellulose completely, making it harder to extract and isolate secondary off-stream products.

A method for producing a hydrophobic element is disclosed and includes the following steps: a) preparing a mixture of water and an organic material from sustainably renewable resources, b) moulding the mixture prepared in step a) to obtain a moulded element, c) drying and densifying the moulded element obtained in step b) to obtain a dried and densified element-, and d) impregnating to the core the dried and densified element obtained in step c) with a binder composed of organic materials from sustainably renewable resources. A covering hydrophobic element containing more than 90%, and preferably more than 99%, of an organic material from sustainably renewable resources is also disclosed.