Study of Manufacturing Thermochromic Wood

The development of new materials such as thermochromic wood provides an interesting option for the forest products industry. Poplar veneer was colored by ultrasonic impregnation using a thermochromic agent consisting of thermochromic dye, a chromogenic agent, 1-tetradecanol, and a sensitizing agent. In optimizing the process, the most significant influence on the extent of sample color change (ΔE) was found to be the mixing ratio of thermochromic dye to chromogenic agent. Next was the mixing ratio of thermochromic dye to 1-tetradecanol and last that of thermochromic dye to sensitizing agent. Analysis of 0variance showed that the influences of all experimental parameters on ΔE were significant at the 0.01 level. The optimum mixing ratio of thermochromic dye, the chromogenic agent, 1-tetradecanol, and the sensitizing agent was 1:8:50:1. The color of these new products changed from blue to wood color as temperature increased 26-34°C and reverted from normal wood color to blue as temperature decreased from 34-26°C.