Volatile Chemical Component Differences between Fully and Partially Dried Merbau (Intsia sp.) Wood Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in Malaysia

Abstract

Wood is one of the most common material found in homes and industrial fires, particularly in Malaysia. The abundanceof different types of wood used to build structures, frames, furniture and others are important to take note as wood is aconducive material that can be used to initiate and propagate a fire, particularly in forensic fire cases. This study wasconducted to provide the volatile chemical fingerprint of burnt Merbau (Intsia sp.) wood using gas chromatographymassspectrometry (GC-MS). The wood samples were prepared under two conditions; fully dried and partially dried. Sixstudy replications of each condition were burnt outdoors and underwent an extraction process using activated carbontablets. The tablets were incubated in an oven for 16 hours at 80ºC. Next, the tablets were desorbed in two differenttypes of solvent; pentane and ethanol. The pentane- and ethanol-desorbed volatile products were then introduced intothe GC-MS. Volatile organic compounds obtained across both conditions were in the range of volatile acids, aromaticsand its derivatives, D-glucopyranose, phenolic derivatives and cycloalkane. The compounds emitted by fully and partiallydried Merbau wood samples were similar, differing only in the absence of malonic acid and succinic acid in partiallydried Merbau wood samples. Both solvents desorbed different types of volatile compounds. The burning behaviour ofpartially dried Merbau wood were different to those documented from fully dried Merbau wood and is attributed to thecomposition of wood rather than the dry or wet conditions.DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JSKM-2019-17SI-11