A thermogravimetric study of structural changes of lime wood (Tilia cordata Mill.) induced by exposure to simulated accelerated UV/Vis-light

A series of experiments were carried out to investigate photodegradation of lime wood (Tilia cordata Mill.) during artificial UV/Vis light irradiation for 600 h. Photodegradation of the wood samples was evaluated by thermogravimetry throughout the irradiation period at an interval of 100 h.The alteration of wood was observed by means of the peak temperatures of DTG variation and by the mass losses observed during heating, evaluated on the basis of the measured thermal data. The results obtained indicate a shifting of the DTG maxima to lower temperatures which may be related to the decreasing in the stability components during photodegradation. The values of the overall activation energies corresponding of the decomposition process progressively decreases.The decreased temperatures decomposition processes, weight losses and integral area of the peaks assigned to lignin, the increased integral area of the peaks assigned to hemicelluloses could be explained by new formed structures, mainly due to formation of reactive species.