Study on Transparent Basswood Dyed with Reactive Dyes and Its Properties

In this work, sodium chlorite method was used to remove lignin in basswood and then the wood was dyed with reactive red X-3B dye. Finally, ultraviolet curing resins with a refractive index similar to cellulose were vacuum-impregnated into the wood to obtain red transparent wood (RTW). Nowadays, transparent wood can be given color by various means and has a wide range of application prospects in the field of transparent wood decoration, but the color embodiment is relatively single. The aim was to develop a low-priced, easy-to-use process for the preparation of colored transparent wood with a sound color system. Transparent wood with colors will have more decorative and commercial value. The chemical composition, microscopic morphology, mechanical properties, and optical properties of dyed transparent wood were examined and analyzed. The results of the chemical composition analysis showed that after delignified treatment, the wood lost a large amount of lignin. After the dyeing treatment, the content of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin was slightly lost, and reactive dye groups appeared in the wood. Infrared spectra of transparent samples showed that the resin was successfully impregnated into the wood. The microscopic morphology analysis results showed that a small amount of dye molecules aggregated on the cell walls after dyeing treatment, and the resin was impregnated into the porous cellulose skeleton of the wood, filling the wood pores. The analysis of mechanical properties showed that the maximum tensile strength of dyed transparent wood reached 122.31 MPa, which was a higher resistance to tensile force compared to raw wood (with a maximum tensile strength of 97.56 MPa); the elongation at break reached 6.26%, which had better toughness compared to log (4.04%). Optical performance analysis showed that the transmittance of dyed transparent wood reached 81%, and dyeing did not change the transmittance of transparent wood. In addition, after undergoing yellowing resistance experiments, the color difference change of dyed transparent wood was much smaller than that of transparent wood.