Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to understand copper-based preservative fixation in wood in connection with wood anatomical morphology. Thin sections obtained from sugi heartwood (Cryp-tomeria japonica) were treated with a CuAz preservative solution. CuAz treatment was performed by dropping CuAz aqueous solution over the sections. Then the thin sections were washed with running water after a fixation process at room temperature for 3 days, SEM-EDXA was carried out to examine the copper distribution. The use of thin sections made it possible to analyze the micro-distribution of the copper. In both earlywood and latewood of the heartwood, copper was more abundant in the compound middle lamellae than in the secondary wall and was concentrated in half-bordered pit membrane, especially as crystalline deposits in longitudinal parenchyma cells. On the other hand, the heartwood contained less copper in tori than the sapwood. In heartwood extracted with ethanol-benzene, the copper concentration was lower in all regions. These different concentrations may indicate significant differences in the way the amine-copper complex in CuAz became fixated in the chemical constituents of the wood, including extraneous components.
