Rates of Swelling of Wood in Vinyl Monomers

The swelling rates of wood in various vinyl monomers were measured. Loblolly pine wafers were soaked in methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (ST), acrylonitrile (ACN), ethyl acrylate (EA), and binary mixtures of ST-ACN and EA-ACN. The high moisture content (15 percent) caused the wood to be dehydrated by the monomer and it shrank. At low moisture contents (5 percent) the wood swelled. It was concluded that part of this swelling was due to the wood removing water from the monomer and part was caused by the monomer itself. The ST-ACN mixture had a very high swelling rate and equilibrium swelling value. This was found to be virtually all due to the ACN component in the mixture. All the so called “non-swelling” vinyl monomers tested did swell dry wood to some extent; acrylonitrile the most, methyl methacrylate less, and styrene the least.

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