Sengon (Falcataria moluccana Miq.) tree offers a wood of low quality and durability owing to its low density and thin cell walls. This study aimed to improve the properties of sengon wood by making the wood magnetic, producing new functions, and characterizing magnetic sengon wood. Each wood sample was treated using one of the following impregnation solutions: Untreated, 7.5% nano magnetite-furfuryl alcohol (Fe3O4-FA), 10% nano Fe3O4-FA, and 12.5% nano Fe3O4-FA. The impregnation process began with vacuum treatment at 0.5 bar for 2 h, followed by applying a pressure of 1 bar for 2 h. The samples were then tested for dimensional stability and density and characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis. The results showed that the Fe3O4-FA impregnation treatment considerable affected the dimensional stability, measured in terms of weight percent gain, anti-swelling efficiency, water uptake, and bulking effect, as well as the density of sengon wood. Changes in wood morphology were detected by the presence of Fe deposits in the cell walls and cell cavities of the wood using SEM-EDX analysis. XRD and FTIR analyses showed the appearance of magnetite peaks in the diffractogram and Fe-O functional groups. Based on the VSM analysis, treated sengon wood is classified as a superparamagnetic material with soft magnetic properties. Overall, 10% Fe3O4-FA treatment led to the highest increase in dimensional stability and density of sengon wood.

Economical use of larix (larch) boards (grade 3) in industries is lower than that of imported hardwood; thus, studies have been conducted toward performance improvement of larix boards. Herein, flexural modulus of larix board samples laminated with wood adhesives polyurethane resins, poly (vinyl acetate) resins, phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde resins, melamine-formaldehyde resins, and urea-formaldehyde resins was compared with that of the samples bonded with adhesives reinforced with mesh-type basalt fibers. Moreover, the flexural moduli of the laminated samples bonded by mesh-type basalt fibers were compared with those of reinforced samples. The results showed that boards laminated with polyurethane and urea-formaldehyde resin adhesives had higher flexural modulus than those without the lamination. In particular, the increase in the flexural modulus was relatively significant for the 2- and 3-ply board structures laminated with polyurethane adhesives compared to those with reinforcement. The 3-ply board structure without reinforcement had the highest flexural modulus when the urea-formaldehyde resin adhesive was used.

One type of biomass that has promising potential for bio pellet production is spent coffee grounds (SCGs). However, previous studies have shown that SCGs in bio pellets cause a lot of smoke. Therefore, they need to be mixed with a material that has a higher calorific value to produce better quality pellets. One material that can be used is pine wood because it has a natural resin content that can increase the calorific value. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of bio pellets produced with SCGs and pine wood charcoal at different particle sizes. The charcoal was ground using either a hammer mill (HM) or a ball mill (BM). Pine wood charcoal was mixed with SCGs at ratios of SCGs to pine wood charcoal of 4:6 and 6:4 by weight, respectively, and the adhesive used a tapioca with a composition ratio 5% of the raw material. The bio pellets were produced using a manual pellet press. The quality of the bio pellets was assessed based on Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 8021-2014, and the physical observations include flame length, burning rate, and compressive strength. The average water content, ash content, and calorific value of the bio pellets were in accordance with SNI 8021-2014, but the density and ash content values were below the standard values. The BM variation of bio pellets had a higher compressive strength than the HM variation, and the 4:6 BM variation had the longest burning time compared with 4:6 HM.

Two important steps in utilizing technical kraft lignin (KL) from black liquor to synthesize lignin-phenol-formaldehyde (LPF) resin are its extraction via precipitation and fractionation. However, the effects of precipitation pH and acetone fractionation on the characteristics of hardwood KL have not been studied for LPF resins. Therefore, this paper reports the effects of the precipitation pH of black liquor and acetone fractionation on the characteristics of KL from mixed hardwood species for LPF resins. The precipitation was conducted at various pH levels from 3 to 9 of black liquor to obtain crude KL (C-KL), which was used in acetone fractionation to produce acetone-soluble KL (AS-KL) and acetone-insoluble KL (AI-KL). Precipitation at pH 3 and 9 produced the highest and lowest yields of C-KL, respectively. As expected, the C-KL infrared spectra were similar regardless of the precipitation pH levels. As the pH increased, the molecular weight of C-KL increased. However, the molecular weight of AS-KL and AI-KL after acetone fractionation increased to a maximum of 4,170 and 47,190 g/mol at pH 7, then decreased to 3,210 and 19,970 g/mol at pH 9, respectively. The smallest molecular weights of AS-KL and AI-KL were 3,210 and 15,480 g/mol and were found at pH 9 and 3, respectively. These results suggest that both AS-KL at pH 9 and AI-KL at pH 3 have good potential as starting lignins for synthesizing LPF resins that require cross-linking for polymerization.

This research aimed to evaluate the durability of Samama (Anthocephalus macrophyllus) wood treated with boron preservatives, citric acid (CA), and heating against termites. Wood samples were impregnated firstly with 5% boron solutions, such as boric acid, borax and boric acid + borax combination at 1:1 (w/w). The second impregnation used 5% CA. The impregnations were conducted in a pressure tank at 7 kg/cm2 for 4 hours. After impregnation, the samples were heat treated at 80℃ or 160℃. All the treated and control samples were exposed to decay fungi, drywood termites and subterranean termites based on SNI 7207:2014 standard. The results showed that boron preservatives reduced fungal attacks on Samama wood. The combination treatment of boric acid, CA and heat treatment at 160℃ was also effective to increase the resistance of Samama wood against white- and brown rot fungi, and drywood termites. Heat treatment consistently improved the resistance of Samama wood from decay fungi.

In light-frame timber construction, the shear wall is one of the most important components that provide resistance to lateral loads such as earthquakes or winds. According to KDS (Korea Design Standard) 42 50 10, shear walls are to be constructed using wood-based structural sheathing, with studs connected by 8d nails spaced 150 mm along the edge and 300 mm in the field. Even though small-scale residential timber building can be designed to exhibit seismic resistance using light-frame timber shear walls in accordance with KDS 42 50 10, only the abovementioned standard type of timber shear wall is available. Therefore, more types of timber shear walls composed of various materials should be tested to measure their seismic resistance, and the results should be incorporated into the future revision of KDS 42 50 10. In this study, the seismic resistance of shear walls composed of structural timber studs and wood-based structural sheathing with reinforced nailing is tested to evaluate the effects of the reinforcement. For the nailing reinforcement, shear wall specimens are constructed by applying nail spacings of 75-150 mm and 50-100 mm. For the shear wall specimens with one sheathing and reinforced nailing, the shear strengths are 1.7-2.0 times higher than that of the standard shear wall (nail spacing of 150-300 mm). The shear strength of the shear walls with sheathing on both sides is 2.0-2.7 times higher than that of the standard shear wall.