Improved weathering performance and wettability of wood protected by CeO2 coating deposited onto the surface

Wood in outdoor exposure undergoes photochemical degradation mainly caused by the combination of UV radiation and moisture, thus appropriate coatings are desirable. In this paper, the wood surface was first treated with CeO2 sol and then treated with a layer of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and the created coating was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDXA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and FTIR spectroscopy (FTIR). The surface became superhydrophobic as the contact angle (CA) for water of the modified wood was 152 degrees. Accelerated aging tests revealed that the modified wood has an excellent weathering resistance.