Jonathan Kalt
Research Mentor: Richard Laine
Mentor Department: Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering
Author(s): Jonathan Kalt, Richard Laine, Man Wang
Session: Session 3 (11:00 AM – 11:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 65
Abstract
Wood is used worldwide for construction due to its abundance and low cost, but it can be susceptible to damage from fungal rot, insects, water, and fire, which cause mechanical failure. Common methods of treating wood to boost its resistance to such problems, such as creosote and chromium arsenates, lead to increased flammability or toxicity which prevent safe use in buildings. Using silica to impregnate wood via alkoxysilanes made from silicon metal is another possibility, but it is less common due to the high costs of the silicon and difficulty to process. My project aims to explore the use of spirosiloxane ([Si(O2C6H12)2]), an alkoxysilane synthesized by direct depolymerization and distillation of silica in rice hull ash, as a cost effective source of silica for treating wood. Since spirosiloxane is derived directly from agricultural waste silica, we can also break it down into silica and hexylene glycol by hydrolyzing wood impregnated spirosiloxane, leaving silica infiltrated in the wood fibers (petrified). This reduces flammability and improves mechanical strength by shielding the wood fibers with inflammable silica. Rice hull ash is an abundant agricultural waste product that is coproduced in large quantities during generation of green electricity. This proposed method of using spirosiloxane to impregnate wood is a cheap and eco-friendly alternative to traditional wood treatments, and shows promise for other silica derived compounds as potential wood impregnates.
