Moisture- and mould-proof characteristics of surface modified wood for musical instrument soundboards

Wood is the main material used for musical instrument soundboard fabrication, for practical and cultural reasons. As a natural material, however, wood is easily degraded due to moisture or fungal corrosion. Most traditional wood protection methods were devised for structural materials, and may thus...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Caiping Xu, Zhenbo Liu, Xingyun Li, Wanli Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2022-01-01
Series:Royal Society Open Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210790
Description
Summary:Wood is the main material used for musical instrument soundboard fabrication, for practical and cultural reasons. As a natural material, however, wood is easily degraded due to moisture or fungal corrosion. Most traditional wood protection methods were devised for structural materials, and may thus not be suitable for application in musical instrument soundboard materials. In the current study, a novel nanomaterial-based modification method was applied to wood. The surface of wood was coated with polyurethane and MgAl-layered double hydroxide nanosheets after a convenient impregnation process. The modified wood exhibited improved hydrophobicity and mould-resistance, while maintaining its acoustic properties. This modified wood may facilitate the construction of soundboards with longer lifespans.
ISSN:2054-5703