Characterization of emissions from thermally modified wood and their reduction by chemical treatment

Thermal treatment is a suitable method for improving the quality of wood types like spruce, beech, or poplar, and thus to open up new fields of application that used to be limited to tropical woods or woods treated with timber preservatives. These thermally treated woods are character-ized by a typical odor caused by degradation products of miscellaneous wood components. The characterization and removal of those odorous substances were investigated using chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. Headspace gas chromatography (GC) in combination with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was used for a qualitative analysis of volatile wood emissions, and the detectable volatiles were compared before and after solvent extraction. Wood solvent extractives were investigated by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and then evaluated in terms of changes in composition caused by the thermal treatment process.