Antibacterial property of titanium alkoxide/poplar wood composite prepared by sol-gel process

Titanium dioxide(TiO2)/poplar wood composites were prepared by sol-gel process by using various wood specimens with different initial moisture contents (MC). Microstructure morphology and antibacterial property of composites were studied. It was found by SEM photographs that wood with MC around 8% showed weight percent gain with more than 30% and deposited TiO2 gels in cell lumens of wood. XRD analysis indicated that amorphous TiO2 in composites decreased relative crystalline degree of wood cellulose with increasing WPGs. Decrease of the relative content of cellulose crystalline showed that crystalline structure of wood crystalline region was not destroyed with sol-gel treatment. Additionally TiO2 existing in wood played an important role on antibacterial efficacy of the composite against Escherichia coli. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.