Study of partial copper salt of polyacrylic acid as a wood antiseptic

The current market of wood preservatives offers a wide variety of products. However, the search for efficient fungicides meeting modern requirements continues to be relevant. Such requirements include safety for both humans and the environment; physical and chemical resistance; affordable cost; absence of unpleasant odor; absence of effects on the mechanical properties of wood, etc. This study was aimed at obtaining an effective fungicide for wood, which could meet all the above requirements. We synthesized a partial copper salt of polyacrylic acid (cupril), which was characterized by infrared spectroscopy. The biological activity of the substance was assessed using compounds based on polyacrylic acid of various molecular weights. Atomic adsorption spectroscopy was used to select the most feasible method for applying a cupril solution onto wood surfaces. The fungicidal and antibacterial activity of the obtained antiseptic was studied. The most feasible method for covering wood surfaces with a cupril solution was found to be its application followed by thermal drying (105 °C). Cupril with medium- and high-molecular weights was established to be most active against fungi of different taxonomic groups, including Trichaptum laricinum, Trichoderma harzianum, Hormonema macrosporum, also exhibiting activity against such copper-resistant fungi as Fomitopsis pinicola. Antibacterial activity testing showed that cupril with different molecular weights of polyacrylic acid equally inhibited the bacterial growth of Enterococcus durans and Bacillus subtilis; however, inhibition of Escherichia coli was observed only in the case of the highest molecular weight.