The Effect of Surface Activating Agents on Wood Materials Used in Interior Designs

Abstract

The use of wood as a coating material in interiors provides many advantages. These advantages are quality, cost, colour, design and longevity. In order to increase the service life, colour and design diversity of the wood material, various surface active materials are applied to improve its properties. 

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of different surfactants applied to the surfaces of oak, beech, merbau, wenge and iroko wood coating materials on the final product.  It is aimed to investigate the surface activity with different surfactants used for wood materials wnich have limited due to their hydrophilic properties. For this purpose, surfactants (water-based varnish, polyurethane varnish, organic oil and water-based colour) were applied to wood coating surfaces at the same layer thickness. The colour changes between the raw wood surfaces and each surface obtained after the application were measured by L.a.b (Colour Determination Test) and the changes in contact angles with water were measured by Gonyonometer (Contact Angle Measurement) Device. The data obtained were compared with each other and the measurement results were analysed in detail.

The results of the research show that different surfactants applied to the surfaces of wood materials show different colour and water contact angles. When the contact angle results in the study are evaluated, it is seen that the raw wood material with the highest water absorption is beech. It is seen that iroko with organic oil application has the lowest water absorption value. When the colour measurement results are examined, it is seen that the highest change in L value is between raw beech and beech with organic oil applied, the highest change in a* value is between raw beech and beech with polyurethane varnish applied and the highest change in b* value is between iroko and iroko with organic oil applied.