Short rotation teak wood has low quality especially in durability. Heartwood presents sufficient natural durability and poor impregnability; meanwhile, most sapwood requires special treatment to increase its durability. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of thermal or chemical treatment on homogenization between sapwood, heartwood, and transition wood for some selected properties. The wood samples were prepared in the form of sapwood, heartwood, and transition (50:50 sapwood-heartwood). Six kinds of treatment were investigated: untreated, furfurylation, thermal treatments at 150 °C and 220 °C, glycerol-maleic anhydride-thermal treatments (GMA-thermal) at 150 °C and 220 °C. Mass change, retention, bulking effect, leaching, and decay resistance of the short rotation teak woods were evaluated. The results show that the hydroxyl group intensity decreased after chemical and thermal modification treatment as indicated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. The retentions values for furfurylation treatment were higher than that of GMA-thermal treatment. Sapwood presented the highest mass change, moreover both the transition and the heartwood were similar in the value after furfurylation and GMA-thermal treatment. The mass changes were not significantly different between sapwood, transition, and heartwood after thermal treatment. Weight losses due to leaching after furfurylation and GMA-thermal treatment were less than 2%. Weight losses due to leaching were similar between transition sapwood and heartwood after furfurylation and GMA-thermal at 220 °C treatments. Chemical and thermal modification could decrease mass loss due to fungal decay. The higher temperature during thermal treatment tended to produce better resistance of the short rotation teak against fungal decay. Weight loss due to fungal decay among transition sapwood and transition heartwood was homogenised after furfurylation and GMA-thermal at 220 °C treatments. The non-biocidal chemical and thermal treatment could be an interest eco-friendly modification method for the sawn timber industry to bring more uniform boards on the markets and a good selection for improving the low quality of short rotation teak wood.

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