Acetylation of three Ghanaian hardwood species - Asanfena (Aningeria robusta), Dahoma (Piptadeniastrum africanum) and Kaku (Lophira alata)

Abstract

The diffusion of chemicals and chemical reaction within the wood bulk are affected by many factors. One of these factors is the wood ultrastructure because the chemicals have to diffuse through the wood matrix to reach the sites where they will react. In this study three Ghanaian hardwood species with different densities were acetylated and the effect of the densities on the percentage hydrogen substitution and weight percentage gain as well as the effect of the modification on dimensional stabilization of the species were analyzed. The densities of the three wood species affected the percentage hydroxyl substitution as well as the weight percentage gain due to the modification. The results showed that the higher the density of the wood species, the lower the percentage hydroxyl substitution at the same condition of temperature, concentration of the reagent and time of reaction.