Stable and durable hydrophobic wood surfaces hold great potential in the wood industry. However, wood tends to absorb water due to the abundant surface hydroxyl groups. A facile and effective approach is proposed here to construct hydrophobic and damage‐tolerant wood surface by coordinating the hydroxyl groups with metal ions. By immersing the pristine wood blocks into salt solutions and followed by drying, the modified wood surface exhibits a hydrophobic behavior. In particular, the surface of Zr⁴⁺ ion modified wood (Zr‐Wood) demonstrates the most dramatic modification effects. The surface vertical to wood growth direction has a water contact angle of 145°, while the surface along the wood growth shows a water contact angle of 139°. Moreover, the wear resistance and durability are explored and the results prove that Zr‐Wood possesses good tolerances against sandpaper abrasions and corrosive solutions. The hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition is ascribed to the formation of metal complexes between ions and hydroxyl groups. Such method is promising for wood preservation and can extend the use of wood.

中文翻译：

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金属离子诱导的疏水性木材表面改性

稳定耐用的疏水性木材表面在木材工业中具有巨大的潜力。然而，由于大量的表面羟基，木材倾向于吸收水。本文提出了一种简便有效的方法，通过将羟基与金属离子配位来构建疏水且耐破坏的木材表面。通过将原始的木块浸入盐溶液中，然后干燥，改性的木块表面表现出疏水性。特别是Zr ⁴⁺的表面离子改性木材（Zr-Wood）表现出最显着的改性效果。垂直于木材生长方向的表面的水接触角为145°，而沿着木材生长方向的表面的水接触角为139°。此外，还探索了耐磨性和耐用性，结果证明Zr-Wood具有良好的耐砂纸磨损和腐蚀性溶液的耐受性。亲水到疏水的转变归因于离子和羟基之间金属络合物的形成。这种方法有望用于木材保存并且可以扩展木材的使用。