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Cited by 16Wood Treatment and PropertiesHygrothermal properties of building materialsConservation Techniques and Studies

Effect of Degradation on Wood Hygroscopicity: The Case of a 400-Year-Old Coffin

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García-Iruela, Alberto, García Esteban, Luis, García Fernández, Francisco, de Palacios, Paloma, Rodriguez-Navarro, Alejandro B., Sánchez, Luis Gil, Hosseinpourpia, Reza·2020·Forests
DOI 10.3390/f11070712
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Abstract

The hygroscopicity and thermodynamic properties of Pinus sylvestris L. wood from a coffin allegedly holding the remains of famous Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) were studied using the 15 °C and 35 °C isotherms fitted to the Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer model and comparing them with the isotherms of recently felled wood of the same species. In addition, using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) and X-ray diffractograms, the functional groups were determined and the crystallinity and organization of the cell wall components were analyzed. The absence of the 1740 cm−1 group indicates hemicellulose degradation in the archaeological wood, and the X-ray diffractograms show a considerable decrease in cellulose crystallinity and disorganization of the cellulose crystallites. The greater availability of active –OH groups means that the archaeological wood isotherms are above the juvenile and mature wood isotherms, and therefore the thermodynamic balance in the sorption of the archaeological wood is greater.

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  • Repeated wetting-drying cycles and long-term loads can lead to microcracks, particularly at cell wall corners and in the middle lamella region, creating stress concentration and reducing energy absorption and stress redistribution capacity.

    “Repeated wetting-drying cycles and long-term loads can lead to microcracks, particularly at cell wall corners and in the middle lamella region; these discontinuities can create stress concentration, thereby reducing the material's energy absorption and stress redistribution capacity (Luimes et al. 2018;García-Iruela et al. 2020;Peng et al. 2020;Mi et al. 2023).”

    From Preliminary structural reuse assessment of reclaimed Juniperus excelsa Timber after approximately 42 years of service: Mechanical response, visible defects, and SEM observations (2026) · cites this paper as García-Iruela et al. 2020

    The Introduction and Conclusions discuss degradation and hygroscopicity, while the Figure 2 caption describes cavities in the secondary cell wall caused by soft rot. Searches for microcracks, wetting–drying cycles, long-term loads, and stress redistribution found no passage addressing the claimed crack locations or mechanical effects. Our copy therefore does not establish this attribution. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
García-Iruela, A., García Esteban, L., García Fernández, F., de Palacios, P., Rodriguez-Navarro, A. B., Sánchez, L. G., & Hosseinpourpia, R.
Affiliations
  • Departamento Sistemas y Recursos Naturales. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Forestales y Medio Natural. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain
  • Departamento de Mineralogía y Petrología. Universidad de Granada, Av. Fuentenueva, 18002 Granada, Spain
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES)
  • Linnaeus University (SE)
ORCID
Venue
Forests
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-06-27
Volume
11
Issue
7
Pages
712
ISSN
1999-4907 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/f11070712
OpenAlex
W3038126210
Cited by
16
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2
FWCI
1.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Forests (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Hispana (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Archivo Digital UPM (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Wood Treatment and Properties
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Hygrothermal properties of building materials
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Conservation Techniques and Studies
Keywords
wood hygroscopicity, wood decay, archaeological wood, coffin, Pinus sylvestris, Miguel de Cervantes, hemicellulose degradation, cellulose crystallinity, wood cell wall

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