DISCOVERING THE GLOBAL LANDSCAPE OF WOOD PRESERVATIVES

Abstract

Wood is a precious natural resource used in many human activities, including construction and furnishing of building interiors. However, wood decomposes due to a variety of wood decay fungi species, including brown rot, white rot or soft rot fungi, inorganic elements, moisture and weathering. Therefore, a variety of wood preservation techniques have been developed to lengthen the service life of wood, lowering replacement costs and enabling wood to be used more effectively in numerous applications. A bibliometric analysis of 4,153 Scopus articles on wood preservatives, including biocide use of wood vinegar and oil palm wood vinegar, was conducted. The data was visualised using VOSviewer, analysed using Harzing’s Publish or Perish and evaluated in Microsoft Excel for frequency of occurrences. This article analysed wood preservative research and development over time by categorising article by title, country of origin, publishing institution, and publication citation patterns. This review highlighted the most important research participants and suggested that wood preservatives are extensively used and have had a significant impact on the number of articles published in regions such as Europe and Asia. These findings extend to emerging patterns and issues in terms of publication frequency, journal impact factor, collaborative patterns and research components, which supplement the scarce global wood preservative trends literature.