An Evaluation of the Physicochemical, Structural and Morphological Properties of Selected Tropical Wood Species for Possible Utilization in the Wood Industry
This work investigated and quantified the physicochemical, structural and
morphological properties of four (4) tropical timbers as precursor raw
materials for possible utilization in the wood plastic industry. The
physicochemical properties of the wood samples
such as the bulk and tapped density, moisture content, water absorption
capacity at 25°C, volatile content, fixed carbon, ash content, alpha cellulose,
hemicellulose, lignin, and extractives contents were determined using standard
methods like the European Committee for Standardization and (CEN/TS) and the
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) standards. The structural and
morphological properties of the samples were examined with Fourier Infrared
Transform (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results
indicated that the bulk density values of the timbers ranged from 0.34 g/cm3in Brachystegia
eurycoma (W3) to 0.47 g/cm3 in Erythrophleum suaveolens (W2), with the other timbers, Nuclea diderichii(W1) and Prosopis africana (W4) having
the same bulk density of 0.40 g/cm3.
With respect to their moisture content, W2had the highest value (8.38%) while Nauclea diderrichii had the lowest value (6.52%). The water
absorption capacities of the woods studied correlated with the cellulose
composition of wood in the order of: W3 > W1 > W4 > W2. The FTIR results showed that W2 and W3 presented a slightly more prominent and broader band than the other woods at
1731cm-1,
in agreement with the higher holocellulose content of these species, while W2 and W4 presented the most prominent peaks indicating higher lignin
content than W1 and W3. The SEM micrographs of the wood
flour samples investigated indicated that the surfaces of the woods were rough
and heterogeneous with irregular crystal and brick shaped particles. A two-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) carried out with respect to the chemical
composition of the wood samples indicated that there was no statistically
significant variation in the wood
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