The microdistribution of copper in southern pine treated with a newly-developed nano-copper wood preservative was examined to determine if it differed from that reported for wood treated with conventional copper-based wood preservatives. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) in combination with x-ray microanalysis (EDX) revealed the presence of nano-sized copper and iron particles in treated wood. These particles ranged in size from 10 to 700 nm and were abundantly present in pit chambers and on tertiary wall layers adjacent to the lumens of tracheids and ray parenchyma cells. FE-SEM and EDX clarified that copper and iron was mainly present as separate particles. Copper was also found in wood cell walls where its concentration was slightly higher in the middle lamella than in the secondary wall layer. In this respect the microdistribution of copper in wood treated with nano-copper resembles that observed in wood treated with conventional copper-based wood preservatives. However, the presence of numerous particulate deposits of copper in voids within the wood creates a different microdistribution pattern for copper in wood treated with the nano-copper preservative compared to that observed in wood treated with current copper-based wood preservatives.

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