The ability to absorb water into wood is important for quality and uniform technological treatment and the protection of wood with waterborne coatings. To achieve the desired properties of the wood surface, there are different processing options. One of these is plasma treatment, which can increase or decrease the water sorption capacity depending on the given conditions. In this master’s thesis, the efficiency of plasma treatment was assessed by measuring the water contact angle, determination of surface free energy, observation of surface changes with a confocal laser microscope, determination of adhesion of the coating, and by detection of chemical changes with infrared spectroscopy. The measurements were performed on samples that were conditioned at different humidities (φ = 33 %; 65 %; 88 %), at different times after plasma treatment (immediately after the treatment and after one and 24 hours), on the samples of different thicknesses (d = 1.85 mm; 2.59 mm; 3.28 mm), and the effects of plasma treatment were compared on spruce and beech wood, and also on thermally modified spruce and beech wood. It was found that plasma treatment increases wetting of wood with water, while in the case of the waterborne coatings the opposite effect occurred. Plasma treatment increases surface free energy of wood, and also decreases the wood’s surface roughness.
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