Reactive transition metal compounds, wood modification and grafting of UV absorbers have all been used to photostabilize wood. Some of these approaches are promising, but the toxicity of certain reactive transition metal compounds and the cost of wood modification and grafting have restricted their commercial applications. Hence, more cost-effective and environmentally friendly methods of protecting wood from photodegradation are needed. Cerium oxide nanoparticles are effective, benign and relatively inexpensive photostabilizers used in personal care products. Therefore cerium oxide nanoparticles may have potential applications for wood photostabilization. In this preliminary study, thin wood veneers were treated with aqueous emulsions containing different levels (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) of cerium oxide nanoparticles and treated veneers were exposed to natural weathering for 30 days. We measured the weight and tensile strength losses and color changes of veneers to assess the photoprotective efficacy of cerium oxide nanoparticles. Our results revealed that the cerium oxide nanoparticles were ineffective at restricting weight losses of veneers during natural weathering. In contrast, cerium oxide nanoparticles were more effective at restricting tensile strength losses of veneers during natural weathering. However, cerium oxide nanoparticles did not restrict the photo-discoloration of wood veneers during natural weathering. Furthermore, cerium oxide nanoparticles were less effective than conventional photostabilizers (UVA/HALS, or micronized iron oxide) at restricting weight and strength losses and color changes of wood veneers during natural weathering. The implications of our findings for the development of improved photoprotective treatments for wood are briefly discussed in this paper.

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