Acetylation is the process we use to enhance the properties of wood. In simple terms, it ‘pickles’ the wood, reducing how much water the cells in the wood can absorb. It does this without adding toxic chemicals to the final product, but by boosting the concentration of ‘acetyl groups’ – which are already found naturally in trees and their wood.
ACETYLATION
ACETYLATION
How we enhance nature
More specifically, our process uses acetic anhydride to change hydroxyl groups (which like water) into acetyl groups (which don’t like water), resulting in improved performance characteristics without introducing harmful or environmentally unfriendly additives.
How we enhance nature
Acetylation is the process we use to enhance the properties of wood. In simple terms, it ‘pickles’ the wood, reducing how much water the cells in the wood can absorb. It does this without adding toxic chemicals to the final product, but by boosting the concentration of ‘acetyl groups’ – which are already found naturally in trees and their wood.
More specifically, our process uses acetic anhydride to change hydroxyl groups (which like water) into acetyl groups (which don’t like water), resulting in improved performance characteristics without introducing harmful or environmentally unfriendly additives.
ABOUT ACCSYS
Changing the wood to change the world
We combine chemistry, technology and ingenuity to make high performance wood products that are extremely durable and stable, opening new opportunities for the built environment. By doing so, we give the world a choice to build sustainably.
We transform fast-growing, certified sustainable wood into a building material with characteristics that match or better those of man-made, intensely resource-depleting and heavily carbon-polluting alternatives.
We are committed to a more sustainable world, and use abundantly available wood sources certified sustainable by the FSC® or other, similarly reputable and internationally-recognised organisations. Accsys’ products fit perfectly in the bio-cycle of the circular economy, with Accoya being Cradle to Cradle Certified™ at the Gold level and Platinum for Material Health.
Changing the wood to change the world
We combine chemistry, technology and ingenuity to make high performance wood products that are extremely durable and stable, opening new opportunities for the built environment. By doing so, we give the world a choice to build sustainably.
We transform fast-growing, certified sustainable wood into a building material with characteristics that match or better those of man-made, intensely resource-depleting and heavily carbon-polluting alternatives.
We are committed to a more sustainable world, and use abundantly available wood sources certified sustainable by the FSC® or other, similarly reputable and internationally-recognised organisations. Accsys’ products fit perfectly in the bio-cycle of the circular economy, with Accoya being Cradle to Cradle Certified™ at the Gold level and Platinum for Material Health.