Effect of Urea-High-Temperature Combined Treatment on the Dimensional Stability of Densified Fast-Growing Wood

Effect of Urea-High-Temperature Combined Treatment on the Dimensional Stability of Densified Fast-Growing Wood | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effect of Urea-High-Temperature Combined Treatment on the Dimensional Stability of Densified Fast-Growing Wood Zhichuang Wang, Rongjun Wei, Xuechun Wang, Jingjing Gao, Tinghuan Wang, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3816874/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Due to the continuous depletion of timber resources and the increasing ecological awareness among people, large-scale fast-growing artificial forests have become a key solution to address the imbalance between timber supply and demand. In recent years, the problem of low density and mechanical strength of fast-growing timber has been addressed through timber densification. However, densified timber still faces issues such as high moisture absorption and poor dimensional stability. Urea molecules can expand the volume of the non-crystalline region of cellulose to protect the cell wall structure of timber from damage during the densification process. In this paper, an effective modification strategy was proposed to prepare lightweight high-strength wood through the synergistic effect of urea vacuum impregnation treatment and high temperature densification, which solved the problem of poor dimensional stability of densified wood. Research results indicate that when the concentration of urea solution is at 50%, the maximum weight gain of the timber samples reaches 17.76%. After densification treatment, the absolute dry density of the test samples increased by more than 0.031g/cm3. Timber treated with a 50% urea solution and processed at 170°C demonstrates good dimensional stability, with a radial swelling rate of only 0.79% under a relative humidity of 65%. Therefore, the joint modification of wood using urea and high-temperature treatment is an effective and environmentally friendly method, presenting broad prospects for development. Fast-growing wood Urea Heat treatment Densification Dimensional stability Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3816874","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":264277007,"identity":"dc67a53f-70e2-4498-a5c7-dc33410a47ad","order_by":0,"name":"Zhichuang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhichuang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":264277008,"identity":"f3b51aee-3957-443b-848e-dd32c307f0cc","order_by":1,"name":"Rongjun Wei","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Forestry 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Dimensional stability","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3816874/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3816874/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDue to the continuous depletion of timber resources and the increasing ecological awareness among people, large-scale fast-growing artificial forests have become a key solution to address the imbalance between timber supply and demand. In recent years, the problem of low density and mechanical strength of fast-growing timber has been addressed through timber densification. However, densified timber still faces issues such as high moisture absorption and poor dimensional stability. Urea molecules can expand the volume of the non-crystalline region of cellulose to protect the cell wall structure of timber from damage during the densification process. In this paper, an effective modification strategy was proposed to prepare lightweight high-strength wood through the synergistic effect of urea vacuum impregnation treatment and high temperature densification, which solved the problem of poor dimensional stability of densified wood. Research results indicate that when the concentration of urea solution is at 50%, the maximum weight gain of the timber samples reaches 17.76%. After densification treatment, the absolute dry density of the test samples increased by more than 0.031g/cm3. Timber treated with a 50% urea solution and processed at 170\u0026deg;C demonstrates good dimensional stability, with a radial swelling rate of only 0.79% under a relative humidity of 65%. 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