State of the Art of Microwave Treatment of Wood: Literature Review

This paper presents a survey of the state of the art of microwave (MW) treatment of wood, informed by both past and recent research papers. It begins by introducing the main concepts regarding MW technology and its advantages, presenting a holistic perspective of this technology, and identifying 57 research papers published over the last 25 years. Next, an extensive literature review of the most significant experimental research papers is provided, divided into two MW heating treatment uses: wood drying and permeability improvement. For each study, the wood species, MW parameters, main objectives, and overall conclusions are provided. In this context, an explanation is given on how parameters such as MW power, frequency, intensity, and exposure time, as well as initial moisture content, influence the degree of wood modification. Next, a global overview of the most used wood species, genera, and dimensions is revealed. The paper concludes by indicating the potential fields of future research studies concerning the uses and applications of MW treatment technology.