Due to their bio-based character, oil-based coatings become more and more prevalent in wood surface finishing. These coatings impart appealing optical and haptic properties to the wood surface, but lack sufficient protection against water and mechanical influences. The present study reports a simple green route to improve the performance of linseed oil coating by the addition of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). In order to achieve surface chemical compatibility with linseed oil, NFC was chemically modified with acetic anhydride and (2-dodecen-1-yl)succinic anhydride, respectively, using propylene carbonate as a solvent. NFC/linseed oil formulations were prepared and applied to wood substrates. The wear resistance of oil-coated wood surfaces was assessed by a newly developed test combining abrasive loading with subsequent contact angle measurement. As revealed by infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD), NFC has been successfully modified without significantly affecting the structure of cellulose. In abrasion tests, all NFC-modified oil coatings performed better than the original oil. Interestingly, NFC only suspended in propylene carbonate, i.e., without chemical modification, had the strongest improvement effect on the coating's wear resistance. This was primarily attributed to the loose network structure of this NFC variant which effectively prevents the oil from penetration into the wood surface, thus forming a protective NFC/oil composite layer on the wood surface.
Keywords: linseed oil; nanocellulose; surface modification; wear resistance; wood coating.