Wood is still a widely used raw material in
many fields and is surface-modified for diverse
applications. Though a few studies reported the antifungal
effect derived from enhanced hydrophobicity
of wood surface, no report about the influence of
superhydrophobic surface upon fungi is known and the
comparison of anti-fungal effects between hydrophobicity
and superhydrophobicity on wood surface has
not been demonstrated. We herein addressed these
aspects regarding the anti-fungal properties of both
hydrophobic and superhydrophobic wood. Hydrophobic
and superhydrophobic beech and pine, representing
hard- and softwood were fabricated, using
environmentally friendly organic materials (cellulose
and glycerol). Cellulose stearoyl ester was used for
dip-coating (1st layer) the wood, leading to a
hydrophobic surface and glycerol stearoyl ester was
used for brush-coating (2nd layer) the wood, leading to
a hierarchical superhydrophobic surface. Results
showed that hydrophobic and superhydrophobic
woods exhibited better anti-fungal properties comparing
with non-treated wood. Furthermore, differential
anti-fungal effects of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic
wood were observed: superhydrophobic
wood could thoroughly prevent fungal attachment to
treated wood, while fungi could still be found inside
hydrophobic wood after anti-fungal test.

EB00000003033K			Available
EB00000003034K			Available

• Differential anti-fungal effects from hydrophobic and superhydrophobic wood based on cellulose and glycerol stearoyl esters