Preliminary observations of hydrothermal growth of nanomaterials on wood surfaces

A hydrothermal method of fabricating nanomaterials at wood surfaces is described in this paper. Nanomaterials with different morphologies including spherical anatase TiO₂, amorphous SiO₂, wurtzite ZnO nanorod arrays, intertwining MnO₂ nanowires, shuttle-shaped CaCO₃ nanorods, and rhombic and cubic NaCl were deposited at wood surfaces. TiO₂–ZnO compound nanoparticles and CuO nanoparticles were also created. The surface morphologies and crystalline structures of the prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. No obvious changes in the color of wood were caused by the hydrothermal process except those nanomaterials of Mn or Cu deposited at surfaces.