Determination of Color Characteristics of Some Wood Species Treated with Bleaching Chemicals

Abstract

With the application of bleaching treatments, the color of the wood material changes. When different bleaching agents are applied to the same wood, different results are likely to be obtained. In this study, wood species doussié (Afzelia africana), iatandza (Albizia ferruginea), merbau (Intsia bijuga (Colebr.) O. Kuntze), mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni L.), and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) along with one and two component (B-One-C and B-Two-C) wood bleaching chemicals were applied to the wood material surfaces with sponge technique. Then, color parameters (h^o: hue angle, a*: red color tone, b*: yellow color tone, C*: chroma, and L*: lightness) were determined on bleached and unbleached materials. According to the results obtained, B-One-C application increased h^o, a*, b*, C*, and L* values in all wood species. The highest ∆E* values were determined in mahogany, doussié, hornbeam, and merbau wood species treated with B-Two-C. The chemicals used in the study showed different results on the same wood.