Effectiveness of European oak wood staining with iron (II) sulphate during natural weathering

Abstract

Artificial graying of wood can be solution for contemporary trends of using uncoated wood for the arrangement of external architecture. The presented work was aimed at investigation of colour changes of European oak (Quercus sp.) wood surface treated with iron (II) sulphate. Three different procedures differing in time (2 h and 24 h) and temperature (20 °C and 70 °C) were used, as well as three different concentrations of aqueous iron (II) sulphate solutions (10 %, 20 %, 30 %). Beside the colour itself, it was evaluated the stained oak wood discolouration due to natural weathering. Thanks to iron (II) sulphate, wood colour changed to dark grey. In general, the colour changes on tangential section of wood were higher than those on radial section what was result of wood structure, in particular parenchyma cells arrangement in wooden rays. Contrary to expectations, the concentration of the iron (II) sulphate solution was not of significant importance for wood staining. Usage of concentrations higher than 10 % for the modification of the colour of wood gives the same effects. However, with increasing solution used to wood staining, the colour stability of the wood decreases during external exposure. The parameters of the procedure were not significantly affected. This allows the application of the simplest and least time-consuming modification method to be considered.