State of progress of utilisation of supramolecular gels for formulations of water-soluble wood preservation salts

International audienceThis article is a compilation of the work done so far concerning the utilization of supramolecular hydrogels, built on low-molecular-weight amphiphilic molecules and containing boron salts conferring fungicidal properties. Mixing boron with thermoreversible hydrogels allows the formation of a supra molecular network incorporating boron and important amount of water upon gelification of the solution when the temperature decreases. Hydrogels obtained from several amphiphilic peptides, pseudo-peptides or various gelling molecules were impregnated in pine wood block using vacuum pressure treatment and subjected to leaching. Results indicated that incorporation of boron salts in the hydrogel network, allowed to protect effectively wood from degradation caused by the brown rot fungus Poria placenta even after leaching. It was assumed that these hydrogels are able to limit the leachability of boron salts