PEG penetration in three commercially important Tasmanian Eucalypt species

Commercially important species of Tasmanian hardwood timber were immersed in 30% (v/v) polyethylene glycol (PEG) of molecular weights 400, 600, and 1000 and incubated up to seven days at three temperatures (30°C, 45 °C, 60°C). Slices obtained from the incubated timber samples were stained with cobalt thiocyanate to indicate the depth of penetration by PEG 400, 600, or 1000 after incubation from two to seven days at the various temperatures. Analysis of the data showed that there was an Observable difference in the rate of penetration between each species of eucalypt used in the trial. Incubation time, temperature, and PEG molecular weight were all factors affecting the rate of PEG penetration in a linear fashion and basic density (BD) was the physical property that best supported the trends in this study. This paper is a baseline study that provides the foundation for the quantification and prediction of the movement of PEG into three species of Tasmanian eucalypt timber. © 2004 by the Society of Wood Science and Technology.