Formulating environmentally benign wood preservatives based on chicken feather protein combined with copper and boron salts

Chicken feather is employed as a source of protein and combined with copper and boron salts to prepare chicken feather protein-based wood preservatives (CFP-WP). The treatability, leachability, chemical structure, crystallinity, thermal properties, micromorphology and decay resistance against fungi of treated wood samples are investigated to explore the efficacy and working mechanisms. The results showed that CFP-WP could penetrate into the wood structure, and NMR analysis indicated the small molecule amino acids hydrolyzed from chicken feather could successfully penetrate into wood. Furthermore, results of FT-IR, XRD, TGA/DTG analysis showed that the active ingredients of preservatives could interact with wood constituents, and CFP-WP were well fixed onto wood blocks. The morphology analysis and decay experiments verified that CFP-WP could protect wood against decay fungi efficiently and prolong the wood service life in consequence. The excellent functionalities of CFP-WP suggests that this eco-formulation could offer great potential to be used as environmentally benign wood preservatives with a more competitive cost.