Title
Modification of wood wettability (European Beech) by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge plasma
Authors
MICHAL JABLONSKY LUKAS SMATKO MARTINA BOTKOVA RADOVAN TINO and JOZEF SIMA

Received February 7, 2014
Published Volume 50 Issue 1 January
Keywords wood, wettability, plasma, diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge, reactions, reactive intermediates

Abstract
In this work, surface activation of European beech wood (Fagussylvatica) treated by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge plasma (DCSBD) is presented. Plasma activation was performed in air atmosphere. The power of plasma in the treatment was 400 W and exposure times were of 3, 5 and 10 s. The wettability of wood was investigated through the measurement of water droplet contact angle. DCSBD plasma generates a wide range of reactive species in ambient air. These species react with the treated sample surface and provide a convenient resource for surface activation of wood material and its components. DCSBD plasma activation demonstrated that plasma treatment is an effective method for changing the wood surface wettability depending on the surface/electrode distance (from 0 to 1.6 mm). At a distance of up to 0.4 mm, the surface becomes hydrophilic when compared with the untreated sample. On the contrary, if the distance exceeds 0.8 mm, the surface becomes hydrophobic.The hydrophobic effect evolved during storage time.