Surface Roughness of Linear Chain Carboxylic Acid Anhydride Modified Wood

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of esterification on the surface roughness of eastern cottonwood. Eastern cottonwood was modified without using any catalyst and solvent at different temperatures and times with two linear chain carboxylic acid anhydrides (acetic anhydride or propionic anhydride). Different weight percentage gains (WPGs) were obtained at different conditions. In this study, stylus method was employed to evaluate the surface roughness parameters (Ra, Rz, Rt) of the chemically modified samples. The result showed that the surface roughness of wood is increased zby modification with acetic and propionic anhydrides, and disregarding the anhydride type, the amount of the increase is dependent on WPGs.