Oxidation treatment on wood cell walls affects gas permeability and sound absorption capacity

This research aimed to study the efficacy of oxidation in wood cell walls by ammonium persulfate solution and the performances in sound absorption coefficients and gas permeability for cross sectional Oak wood (Quercus mongolica) species. Reaction parameters were optimized and extensive instrumental characterization techniques were used to study cell wall modifications, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope. The oxidation treatment changed the chemical compositions of wood (hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin), boosting wood porosity (12%) and gas permeability (39%). The effectiveness accelerates improvement of average sound absorption coefficient at each frequency range: 250–500 Hz (4.6%), 500–1000 Hz (26.8%), 1000–2000 Hz (31.8%), 2000–6400 Hz (57.8%) and overall 250–6400 Hz (47.1%) compared to the control samples. Simple wood oxidation treatment could be helpful for novel research and wood based sound absorption materials to manage the acoustic housing environment.