New alternatives for wood preservation based on thermal and chemical modification of wood— a review

Increasing environmental pressures appearing over the last few years have led to important changes in the field of wood protection. In this context, new technologies, based either on thermal or chemical modifications, suggest increasing interest in prospect of programmed ban of biocide products. The evolution of the regulations on the use of biocide products has led to important changes in the field of wood preservation, leading to an increasing interest for non-biocide treatments like thermal or chemical modifications to face to the programmed ban of biocide products. The paper reviews the different non-biocide alternatives developed currently on an industrial scale, highlighting their main characteristics and applications. Different treatments have been developed on an industrial scale involving mainly thermal modifications and acetylation, furfurylation and DMDHEU constituting already available solutions. Different non-biocide alternatives already exist and will become more important in the next decades due to the increasing legislative pressure driven by environmental considerations.