Bioinspired Living Coating System in Service: Evaluation of the Wood Protected with Biofinish during One-Year Natural Weathering

Use of Aureobasidium in a sustainable economy

Aureobasidium is omnipresent and can be isolated from air, water bodies, soil, wood, and other plant materials, as well as inorganic materials such as rocks and marble. A total of 32 species of this fungal genus have been identified at the level of DNA, of which Aureobasidium pullulans is best known. Aureobasidium is of interest for a sustainable economy because it can be used to produce a wide variety of compounds, including enzymes, polysaccharides, and biosurfactants. Moreover, it can be used to promote plant growth and protect wood and crops. To this end, Aureobasidium cells adhere to wood or plants by producing extracellular polysaccharides, thereby forming a biofilm. This biofilm provides a sustainable alternative to petrol-based coatings and toxic chemicals. This and the fact that Aureobasidium biofilms have the potential of self-repair make them a potential engineered living material avant la lettre. KEY POINTS: •Aureobasidium produces products of interest to the industry •Aureobasidium can stimulate plant growth and protect crops •Biofinish of A. pullulans is a sustainable alternative to petrol-based coatings •Aureobasidium biofilms have the potential to function as engineered living materials.

Fungal colonisation on wood surfaces weathered at diverse climatic conditions

Natural weathering test at two different European climatic zones were conducted to investigate simultaneously both, the fungal colonisation and weathering process of Scots pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.). The hypothesis was that the wood performing differently in various climate conditions might affect fungal infestation. The colour changes, wettability, and glossiness were measured as indicators of weathering progress of wood together with an assessment of fungal diversity. Different intensities in weathering, occupancy, and colonisation of fungi on wooden surface were detected. A higher number of fungal species was found on wood exposed to the warm temperate climates compared to subarctic or boreal climates. The dominant fungal species in both locations were from the genera Cladosporium and Aureobasidium.

Effect of Number of Impregnations of Microberlinla sp with Microcapsule Emulsion on the Performance of Self-Repairing Coatings on Wood Surfaces

Embedding melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin-coated shellac microcapsules in waterborne coatings can extend the service longevity of waterborne coatings on a wood surface to a certain extent. Due to the content limitation of self-repairing microcapsules in waterborne coatings, the effective self-healing performance time is short. With the aim of improving the self-repairing properties of self-repairing coatings on the surface of a Microberlinla sp substrate, a more effective self-healing mechanism was achieved by impregnating the ebony wood substrate several times with an MF resin-coated transparent shellac-rosin microcapsule emulsion. After the impregnation of the ebony boards with microcapsules, a waterborne acrylic resin coating containing 3.0 wt.% transparent shellac microcapsules was applied to the surface of the wood boards. The influence of the number impregnations on the surface coating’s physical properties, chemical properties, and self-repairing properties was explored. The results showed that the hardness of the surface coating on the ebony boards changed little under different numbers of impregnations. With the increasing number of impregnations, the surface coatings’ adhesion and impact strength slowly increased, the chromatic difference value was increased, and the roughness first increased and then decreased. Impregnating ebony boards with the microcapsule emulsion contributes to enhancing the aging resistance and repair performance of surface coatings on the ebony boards. When the number of impregnations was eight, the width change rate of cracks on surface self-healing coatings was 28.4%, which suggested the best repair performance among all samples. By impregnating the wood substrate with the self-healing microcapsule emulsion, the effect of the interaction between microcapsules and wood on the self-repairing properties of the surface coating was studied, contributing to the theory for further improving the self-repairing properties of waterborne coatings on wood surfaces and promoting the application and development of self-healing microcapsules.