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Preliminary study of the fungicidal and structural variability in copper naphthenates and naphthenic acids
1996 - IRG/WP 96-30114
Copper naphthenates, an oil-borne wood preservative listed by the American Wood-Preservers' Association (AWPA), is manufactured by complexing copper(II) with naphthenic acids. Prior to AWPA listing as a wood preservative, field experiments showed that copper naphthenates generally had good stability and were active against wood-destroying organisms. Recently, however, there have been reports ...
T Schultz, D D Nicholas, L L Ingram Jr, T H Fisher


Wood preservation in the USA
1982 - IRG/WP 3215
This report is a comprehensive survey of the status of the wood preservation field in the U.S.A. at the start of the 1980s. The importance of wood preservation is discussed and its industry described. Various statistics and analyses regarding the use of treated wood have been compiled. Both pressure and non-pressure applications have been covered, as well as remedial treatments and pest control op...
D D Nicholas, R Cockcroft


Update on lab and field test results for polymeric alkylphenol polysulfide treated wood
2002 - IRG/WP 02-40240
The possibility of using Polymeric Alkylphenol Polysulfide (PXTS) as a wood preservative has been undergoing evaluation in our laboratories for the past four years. Various formulations prepared from this compound have been tested and found to be effective against wood decay fungi and insects in field stakes after 42 months exposure. In accelerated soil bed tests, PXTS has been shown to be consi...
J Goswami, A Abramson, R Buff, D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Comparative performance of pentachlorophenol and copper naphthenate in a long term field stake test
2000 - IRG/WP 00-30243
In this study the performance of copper naphthenate (Cu-Nap) and pentachlorophenol (Penta) treated pine stakes against decay and termite attack were compared at two test sites in Mississippi. Four different petroleum oils meeting AWPA Standard P9-A were used as carriers for these wood preservatives. After ten years exposure, the efficacy of Cu-Nap at a retention level of 0.05 pcf Cu was equivalent...
D D Nicholas, M H Freeman


Dimensional stabilization of wood with dimethylol compounds
1987 - IRG/WP 3412
This study showed that a substantial degree of dimensional stability can be imparted to wood by crosslinking with low concentrations of dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea. It was demonstrated that by selecting the right catalyst system the cure temperature can be reduced to the point that strength loss of the treated wood is minimized....
D D Nicholas, A D Williams


Detection of incipient brown rot decay in wood by fourier transform infrared spectrometry
1987 - IRG/WP 2275
Fourier transform infrared spectrometry was evaluated as a possible method for detecting different levels of brown-rot decay in pine sapwood. By using first derivative spectra and regression analysis, an equation based on 4 absorption peaks, normalized with an internal standard peak, was developed. The correlation between weight loss and absorption was highly significant indicating that this is a ...
D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Effect of soft-rot decay on the static bending strength of wood
1991 - IRG/WP 2361
In this study, a modified static bending test has been developed as a method for measuring soft-rot decay in soil bed studies. A good correlation was found between the strength loss of the southern pine test specimens and extent of decay. This data suggests that it may be possible to develop a dynamic test based on stress relaxation that is more sensitive than static bending....
D D Nicholas, J A Wilson, R C Vasishth


Susceptibility of angiosperm sapwood to white-rot fungal colonization and subsequent degradation: a hypothesis
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10211
It has long been recognized that angiosperm sapwood in nature is relatively easily and preferentially degraded by white-rot fungi. This susceptibility to white-rot fungi is generally believed to be mainly caused by the structure and concentration of angiosperm lignin. However, an explicit explanation as to why lignin structure makes a particular wood vulnerable to white-rot colonisation and subseq...
T Schultz, D D Nicholas


Use of Transverse Compression Properties as a Measurement of Wood Biodeterioration, Part 1 of 2 - Effect of White-Rot on Yellow-Poplar
2002 - IRG/WP 02-40239
The soil block and agar block test methods are used extensively as a screening process for potential and modified wood preservatives. The extent of decay in standard screening tests, indicative of preservative efficacy, is currently based on mass loss. Mass loss techniques, due to their limit of sensitivity in detecting significant mass loss vis-à-vis decay, require an extended fungus exposure ...
S Janzen, D D Nicholas


Effect of permeability and extractives on the decay rate of southern pine sapwood in above grund exposure
2005 - IRG/WP 05-20310
The effects of wood permeability and hydrophilic and hydrophobic extractives on the decay rate of southern pine sapwood in above ground exposure were investigated. Permeability was determined by water sorption measurements, and the effect of extractives was studied by pre-extracting the test samples prior to outdoor exposure using water to extract hydrophilic extractives or sequential methanol/cy...
D D Nicholas, T Schultz, L Sites, D Buckner


Accelerated laboratory soil contact decay test using soil amended with composted wood
2004 - IRG/WP 04-20284
The effect of amending soil with wood compost on the decay rate of wood wafers in contact with the unsterile soil, as measured by radial compression strength loss, was explored. It was found that the addition of composted wood to the soil significantly increased the wood decay rate. The reason for this acceleration in wood decay is not entirely clear, but appears to be at least partially associate...
D D Nicholas, H Borazjani, T Schultz


Worldwide in-ground stake test of acetylated composite boards
1997 - IRG/WP 97-40088
Acetylated wood composite stakes are being tested in ground contact (graveyard test) in seven fields around the world. Three types of acetylated wood composites were prepared: spruce fiberboard in Sweden, aspen fiberboard in Madison and rubber wood particle board in Indonesia. Two levels of acetylation were used, a high level of ~20% acetyl content and a low level of 10% acetyl content. Control bo...
R M Rowell, B S Dawson, Y S Hadi, D D Nicholas, T Nilsson, D V Plackett, R Simonson, M Westin


Evaluation of substituted isothiazolone as a potential new wood preservative
1984 - IRG/WP 3306
Laboratory decay tests were carried out with isothiazolone (4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolone-3-one) treated wood. This compound was found to be extremely effective against three common wood decaying brown-rot fungi, exhibiting toxic threshold values in the range of 0.37 to 0.50 kg/m³. For the white-rot fungus, Coriolus versicolor, the toxic threshold values for treated pine and sweetgum wer...
D D Nicholas, A F Preston, D E Greenley, S V Parikh


Effect of soil parameters on biocide depletion: laboratory and field studies of water- and emulsion-borne preservatives
2000 - IRG/WP 00-30234
Two field test sites with different soils were selected. Soil analysis showed that the soil at the two sites had considerable texture, base saturation, acidity, and cation exchange capacity differences. Five sets of field stakes were treated as follows: three with water-borne CCA to about 0.4 pcf (6.4 kgm-3) retention, one with 0.75% DDAC, and one with 0.75% DDAC:0.25% chlorothalonil. The last two...
T Schultz, D D Nicholas, D E Pettry, M G Kim


Comparative performance of several ammoniacal copper preservative systems
1997 - IRG/WP 97-30151
The efficacy of several ammoniacal copper-based wood preservative systems was evaluated in this study. The selection of potential co-biocides was based on the results of an agar plate test. Following this, the most promising systems were evaluated in a standard field stake test. Good correlation was found between the agar plate and field stake test results. Of the preservative systems tested, copp...
D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Modification of wood by graft treatment
2003 - IRG/WP 03-40257
New water-repellent systems for wood are needed to improve the weathering characteristics. This study found that treatment of wood with chemical grafting systems imparted substantial water repellency. Different direct oxidative grafting systems were examined. Specifically, KMnO4, Fe(NH4)(SO4)2·12H2O, Fe2(SO4)3·5H2O, and (NH4)2Ce(NO3)6 were used as initiators and styrene as the monomer. All the...
M M Morshed, D D Nicholas, C Pittman Jr, T Schultz


Lab and field test results for wood treated with polymeric alkylphenol polysulfide
2001 - IRG/WP 01-30268
A new wood preservative based on polymeric alkyphenol polysulfide (PXTS-A) is being evaluated in a series of laboratory and field tests and the results continue to show promise. A modified formulation (PXTS-B), which contains additives to reduce the viscosity, is being evaluated along with the original formulation. Soil block decay tests comparing PXTS-B with CCA-C indicate that PXTS-B is equally ...
J Goswami, A Abramson, R Buff, D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Laboratory studies of CCA-C-leaching: influence of wood and soil properties on extent of arsenic and copper depletion
2002 - IRG/WP 02-50186
The extent which a wood preservative leaches is important for efficacy studies and environmental concerns. However, little information exists on the effect soil properties have on leaching. This study investigated leaching of stakelets which had been cut from five different southern yellow pine (SYP) sapwood boards then treated with CCA-C to a target retention of 6.4 kgm-3 (0.4 pcf). All stakel...
D Crawford, R F Fox, D P Kamden, S T Lebow, D D Nicholas, D Pettry, T Schultz, L Sites, R J Ziobro


Water repellency of wood treated with alkylammonium compounds and chromated copper arsenate
2000 - IRG/WP 00-30231
The comparative water sorption properties of southern pine treated with CCA and several alkylammonium compounds was evaluated for freshly treated wood and for wood after exposure in a fungus cellar. It was found that CCA imparts considerable water repellency to wood which is reduced somewhat after exposure to wet soil. With the exception of a long chain (C20 -C22) compound, the alkylammonium compo...
D D Nicholas, A Kabir, A D Williams, A F Preston


Efficacy of copper:propiconazole and copper:citrate systems in ground contact exposure at a site with copper tolerant fungi
2003 - IRG/WP 03-30305
Southern yellow pine (SYP) sapwood field stakes were treated with copper alone (ammoniacal copper carbonate, ACC) at four levels, or three levels of copper (1.6, 3.2, or 6.4 kgm-3, as CuO), air-dried, then re-treated with propiconazole in a light organic solvent at 0.07, 0.3, or 0.7 kgm-3 retentions. In a separate study, SYP field stakes were treated with three levels of ACC to give 6.7, 13.4 or ...
D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Synergistic combination of an antioxidant and wood preservative: a preliminary study
1998 - IRG/WP 98-30172
We previously proposed that extractives in highly durable angiosperm heartwood may protect wood against white-rot fungal colonization and subsequent degradation by a dual mechanism: extractives have some fungicidal activity and are also free radical scavengers (antioxidants) and thus interfere with the fungal free radical degradative mechanisms. We tested this hypothesis using the commercial bioci...
T Schultz, D D Nicholas, J Minn, K D McMurtrey, T H Fisher


Dimensional stabilization and decay resistance of wood treated with brown-rotted lignin and copper sulfate
1990 - IRG/WP 3608
The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of brown-rotted lignin (BRL) as a dimensional stabilization and copper complexing agent for wood treatment. For dimensional stabilization, aqueous solutions of the lignin extract were combined with either copper sulfate, glyoxal or other additives. Anti-shrink efficiency (ASE) values as high as 42% were obtained with wood treated...
L Jin, D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Use of compression strength loss for measuring decay in the soil block test
1996 - IRG/WP 96-20083
The possibility of using radial direction compression strength of wood, rather than mass loss, was evaluated for both a brown-rot fungus (Gloeophyllum trabeum) and white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor). With untreated pine wafers (5 x 19 x 19 mm³ - l x r x t) exposed to Gloeophyllum trabeum in a soil block test for five days, the compression strength loss was nearly 50% compared to a 5% mass los...
D D Nicholas, Zhongwei Jin


Screening wood preservatives: Comparison of the soil block, agar block and agar plate tests
1993 - IRG/WP 93-20001
Several test procedures have been developed over the years to screen potential biocides for their value as wood preservatives. Each test has inherent advantages and disadvantages. In this paper the relative merits of the soil block, agar block and agar plate tests are compared. Eight commercially available biocides encompassing inorganic and organic systems were tested against four basidiomycete d...
K J Archer, D D Nicholas, T Schultz


Environmentally benign wood preservatives based on organic biocide antioxidant combinations: A brief review of laboratory and field exposure results and discussion of a proposed mechanism
2004 - IRG/WP 04-30335
The combination of various organic biocides with commercial antioxidants generally increased the biocides’ efficacy 2-3 fold against wood-destroying fungi in short-term laboratory decay tests, and some positive results have been obtained after 2-4 years of outdoor exposure. The two antioxidants principally examined, propyl gallate and butylated hydroxytoluene, are low cost and, since both are f...
T Schultz, D D Nicholas, W Henry, C Pittman, D Wipf, B Goodell


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