Mineralization treatment of European oak heartwood with calcium oxalate for improved fire retardancy

Within the focus to apply substances for wood protections, here fire retardants, with low hazardous and low environmental impact is of interest. Additionally, European oak is an attractive species for various interior and exterior applications. However, oak is classified as very heavily treatable and thus impregnation is challenging. However, the focus of this study was to treat European oak with a new fire retardant based on an in-situ calcium oxalate deposition. Thin oak specimens with a thickness of 4 mm were investigated with two various formulations of aqueous salt solutions (potassium oxalate and calcium chloride, and potassium oxalate and calcium acetate) to obtain an in-situ mineralization of calcium oxalate during a two-step impregnation process. The uptake, the distribution, and the penetration of the salts for both applied formulations were investigated. Additionally, fire retardant properties were investigated in a single flame source test. It could be demonstrated that an acceptable degree of treatability was achieved for both applied formulations. The fire retardancy of the so mineralized material was clearly improved. Synergetic effects which might be caused by the reaction side products of the various formulations were found to be neglectable.