THE EFFECT OF LONG-TERM TREATMENT AT 100-DEGREES-C-150-DEGREES-C ON STRUCTURE, CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION AND COMPRESSION BEHAVIOR OF CORK

TitleTHE EFFECT OF LONG-TERM TREATMENT AT 100-DEGREES-C-150-DEGREES-C ON STRUCTURE, CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION AND COMPRESSION BEHAVIOR OF CORK
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1994
AuthorsRosa, M. E., & Pereira H.
JournalHOLZFORSCHUNG
Volume48
Pagination226-232
Keywordsc, Cellular materials, Cork, mechanical properties
Abstract

The effects of heating of cork in air at 100-degrees-C and 150-degrees-Cfor up to 42 days have been studied. Dimensional and mass changesinduced by heat treatment were measured and the chemical composition wasanalysed. The thermal degradation of cork is small for short periods oftreatment but increases with time and temperature. Cork looses after 42days of treatment 6.8 % of its mass at 100-degrees-C and 19.9 % at150-degrees-C. Cork extractives and polysaccharides were found to be themost temperature labile components. The cellular structure, observed byscanning electron microscopy, did not change with treatment in theseconditions. Compression curves of untreated and heat treated corksamples were obtained, which show an increase of compression strengthupon heating for short exposure periods and a decrease for longer ones.The changes observed in the compression behaviour of cork treated at100-degrees-C and 150-degrees-C were related to the chemical compositionchanges induced by heat treatment.