JP2006206453A - Method for processing plant - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for processing a plant, in which deterioration of plants is prevented, extremely excellent in keeping quality of plants. <P>SOLUTION: The method for processing the plant comprises forming a film of a liquid coating material containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst on the surface of the plant and carrying out hydrolysis and dehydration condensation of the organometallic compound in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water at ≤60°C to vitrify the film. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for processing a plant.

  Conventionally, dry flowers and pressed flowers are known as methods for preserving plants such as flowers and plants. Dried flowers and pressed flowers are techniques for improving the storage stability by drying raw plants. However, even dry plants may absorb moisture again and deteriorate, and must be stored with care.

  Then, the method of coating a plant as a preservation method of the plant which was more excellent in preservability was proposed (for example, refer to patent documents 1).

JP 2001-247402 A

  The coating method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is to dissolve the foamed polystyrene resin in a solvent so as not to lose the color luster of insects, plants, fallen leaves and the like collected in the natural world. It is applied with a brush.

When coating a plant, a liquid coating material mainly composed of a petrochemical organic material such as a synthetic resin is applied to the surface of the plant. In this case, if there is a part of the surface of the plant that is not covered with the coating material, a problem such as moisture absorption from the surface occurs. Therefore, it is preferable that the coating material is adhered to the entire surface as much as possible.
However, even if an organic material coating material is applied to the surface of the plant, the coating layer has not only a small amount of air permeability, moisture permeability and / or moisture absorption. It is affected by moisture and oxygen. In addition, the organic material itself as a coating material may be altered by external factors such as moisture, heat, and ultraviolet rays. For this reason, there existed a problem that a plant deteriorated or the original beauty | look of a plant was impaired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a plant processing method that prevents plant deterioration and has excellent plant preservation.

  In order to achieve the above object, the plant processing method according to claim 1 is characterized in that a liquid coating material film containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst is formed on the surface of the plant. The organometallic compound is hydrolyzed, dehydrated and condensed in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water and at a temperature of 60 ° C. or less to vitrify.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the plant processing method according to the first aspect, the plant is supported in an airtight case, and the coating material is attached to the surface of the plant by heating in the airtight case. A coating material film is formed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a plant, wherein a liquid coating material containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst is sprayed or applied on the surface of the plant to form a film. The compound is characterized by being vitrified by hydrolysis and dehydration condensation in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water at a temperature of 60 ° C. or lower.

  The plant excellent in long-term storage stability of the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the surface of the plant is coated with a glass film obtained by hydrolyzing and dehydrating and condensing an organometallic compound to form an inorganic glass.

  In the plant processing method of the present invention, the principle of vitrifying the hydrolyzable organometallic compound contained in the coating material is disclosed in Patent No. 2538527 “Method for producing metal oxide glass film and spherical fine particles” at 200 ° C. It is disclosed as a technique for forming a single or multicomponent metal oxide glass film in the following so-called normal temperature region. The glass film obtained by this technique is a transparent and homogeneous non-porous material that is excellent in heat resistance, high humidity resistance, and the like and is physicochemically stable. The present inventor has completed the present invention by applying this technique to a plant surface coating technique.

The method of the present invention will be described in detail later, but briefly described by way of example. For example, a film is formed on a plant surface by applying a liquid coating material containing, for example, an Si alkoxide and a reaction catalyst. Next, the membrane is dried in air at room temperature or a temperature of 60 ° C. or lower. During this drying process, water in the air is taken into the film. Because the membrane is so thin, in the presence of water taken from the reaction catalyst and in the air, alkoxide of Si hydrolysis, dehydration condensation, membrane coating material is SiO ₂ vitrified.

  The composition of the coating material used in the method of the present invention, the reaction conditions, and the principle of vitrification are basically the same as those disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2538527, as will be cited below. However, as will be described later, it is preferable to vitrify at a temperature of 60 ° C. or lower so as not to cause deterioration of the target plant (or not to significantly accelerate the deterioration).

In the present invention, the organometallic compound used as a raw material for the coating material is not particularly limited as long as it can be hydrolyzed. A preferred organometallic compound is a metal alkoxide, which is represented by the general formula MR ² _m (OR ¹ ) _nm . Where M is a metal having an oxidation number n, R ¹
And R ² represents an alkyl group, and m represents an integer of 0 to (n-1). R ¹ and R ² may be the same or different groups. Among them, R ¹ and R ² are preferably an alkyl group having 4 or less carbon atoms, that is, a methyl group CH ₃ (hereinafter represented by Me), an ethyl group C ₂ H ₅ (hereinafter represented by Et), a propyl group. C ₃ H ₇ (hereinafter represented by Pr), isopropyl group i-C ₃ H ₇ (hereinafter represented by i-Pr), butyl group C ₄ H ₉ (hereinafter represented by Bu) isobutyl group i-C ₄ H A lower alkyl group such as ₉ (hereinafter represented by i-Bu) is preferably used. Examples of the metal alkoxide include lithium ethoxide LiOEt, niobium ethoxide Nb (OEt) ₅ , magnesium isopropoxide Mg (OPr-i) ₂ , aluminum isopropoxide Al (OPr-i) ₃ , zinc propoxide Zn ( OPr) ₂ , tetraethoxysilane Si (OEt) ₄ , titanium isopropoxide Ti (OPr-i) ₄ , barium ethoxide Ba (OEt) ₂ , barium isopropoxide Ba (OPr-i) ₂ , triethoxyborane B (OEt) ₃ , zirconium propoxide Zn (OPr) ₄ , lanthanum propoxide La (OPr) ₃ , yttrium propoxide Y (OPr) ₃ , lead isopropoxide Pb (OPr-i) _{2 and the} like. All of these metal alkoxides are commercially available and can be easily obtained. The metal alkoxide is also commercially available as a low condensate obtained by partial hydrolysis, and can be used as a raw material.

  The above-mentioned hydrolyzable organometallic compound is used by diluting with a solvent in order to be applied to the surface of a plant as a main component of a coating material and to facilitate the control of hydrolysis and dehydration condensation reactions described later. It is desirable. The diluting solvent may be any solvent that can dissolve the organometallic compound and can be uniformly mixed with water. In general, aliphatic lower alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, isobutanol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and mixtures thereof are preferably used. A mixed solvent such as butanol + cellosolve + butyl cellosolve or xylol + cellosolve acetate + methyl isobutyl ketone + cyclohexane can also be used. Among the lower alcohols, propanol, isopropanol, butanol and isobutanol having more carbon atoms than methanol and ethanol are particularly preferable because the growth of the metal oxide glass film to be formed is stable.

In the method of the present invention, a hydrolyzable organometallic compound is hydrolyzed, dehydrated and condensed in the presence of a predetermined reaction catalyst and water to form a glass. That is, the organometallic compound is hydrolyzed and dehydrated and condensed using a predetermined catalyst, for example, a halogen ion in the presence of boron ions, in a liquid medium composed of water in the air and the organic solvent. Trialkoxyborane B (OR) ₃ is used as the compound that gives boron ions B ³⁺ . Of these, triethoxyborane B (OEt) ₃ is preferable. As the halogen ion, F ^- and Cl ^- or a mixture thereof is used. The compound to be used is not particularly limited as long as it generates F ⁻ ions and Cl ⁻ ions in the above-mentioned liquid medium. For example, the F ⁻ ion source includes ammonium hydrogen fluoride NH ₄ F · HF, sodium fluoride NaF and the like, Cl ^−. The ion source is preferably ammonium chloride NH ₄ Cl or the like.

  The pH of the coating material is adjusted to a range of 4.5 to 5 using an acid such as hydrochloric acid, for example, in order to form a metal oxide glass film.

Although the catalytic action of boron ions B ³⁺ and halogen ions X ⁻ when producing metal oxide glass in the normal temperature region is not necessarily clarified, according to Japanese Patent No. 2538527, for example, a metal alkoxide as an organometallic compound When alcohol is used as a solvent, it is estimated as follows.
_{^{B 3+ + 4X - → BX 4}} - (1)
_{M (OR) n + BX 4} - + n / 2H 2 O → MX - n + 1 + nROH + B 3+ (2)
MX ⁻ _{n + 1} + nH ₂ O → M (OH) _n + (n + 1) X ⁻ (3)
M (OH) _n → metal oxide glass + H ₂ O (4)

That is, according to Japanese Patent No. 2538527, as shown in the formula (1), the BX ₄ ⁻ complex ion generated from B ³⁺ and X ⁻ is M (OR) _n as shown in the formula (2). The metal oxide glass is obtained in the room temperature range as a result of the exchange of the compound and the MX ⁻ _{n + 1} complex ion, which facilitates the hydrolysis and dehydration condensation reactions shown in the formulas (3) and (4). It is considered a thing.

  The coating material film is dried at room temperature, or when heated and dried, it is preferably heated and dried at a temperature of 60 ° C. or lower to be vitrified. This is to prevent the deterioration of the plant (or the deterioration is not significantly accelerated). Drying is important for the formation of a nonporous film.

  Further, in the present invention, in the vitrification, the coating material film formed on the surface of the plant is capable of taking in (absorbing moisture) the surrounding water (for example, indoor air if indoors). is required. This is because water is indispensable for the hydrolysis reaction when the film of the coating material applied to the surface of the plant is vitrified.

  There are commercially available coating materials suitable for the method of the present invention. For example, room temperature glass coating materials “HEATLESS GLASS GS-600 series” manufactured by Nikko Co., Ltd. (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) and “HEATLESS GLASS GO” -100SX "(trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) and room temperature enamel coating material" Terios Coat NP-360 series "(trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) are now available. These coating materials are liquid at room temperature and have good adhesion to plants. When the coating material is applied on the surface of the substrate by application, etc., it does not require heating and is in the air during the drying process at room temperature. Hydrolysis and dehydration condensation occur in the presence of water to form a very thin glass film on the substrate surface.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a coating material film containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound, a reaction catalyst, and an organic solvent is formed on the surface of a plant, and the organometallic compound is used as the reaction catalyst. And it hydrolyzes and dehydrates and condenses in the presence of water and at a temperature of 60 ° C. or less to vitrify. The glass film formed on the plant surface in this way is essentially composed of only inorganic materials that do not contain components other than the metal oxide glass component, so the properties of glass, that is, long-term weather resistance. Properties such as water resistance, stain resistance, and incombustibility can be imparted to the surface of plants as they are. Plants coated according to the present invention are completely shielded against moisture, oxygen, etc. over a long period of time by vitrified films, so that the deterioration of flowers due to these external causes (flower discoloration, discoloration, etc.) is prevented. , The storage stability can be remarkably improved.

  Moreover, since the film | membrane of a coating material is vitrified at the temperature of 60 degrees C or less, it can prevent that the plant used as a base material deteriorates with a heat | fever in a process.

  Furthermore, when the dried flower is coated according to the present invention, the formed glass film is very thin, about 10 to 25 μm. Natural appearance and shape are not easily damaged. In particular, in the case of dried flowers, the volume of the flowers shrinks and the petals become thinner due to drying. Therefore, a thick coating tends to increase the thickness due to the coating, but such a problem does not occur. Further, according to the present invention, the flower is mechanically protected by a thin glass film having an appropriate hardness, so that breakage (breaking or the like) that tends to occur in the case of dried flower is less likely to occur.

  Moreover, since the film is made of inorganic glass, there is no health problem and it is safe even if you touch the processed flower material directly or swallow it by mistake.

  According to invention of Claim 2, since a coating material is vaporized within an airtight case and it adheres to a plant, a coating material reaches | attains fully to every corner, such as the back of a fine space | gap of a plant, and adheres. As a result, a glass film that almost completely covers the entire plant can be applied, so that it has the effect of remarkably improving the storage stability of the plant and the effect of preventing damage to the plant. For example, when the border between petals and flower buds is completely coated on a flower, the vitrified coating material functions as a binder, and can prevent damage such as dropping or cracking of petals.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since a film is formed by spraying or applying a liquid coating material containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst on the surface of a plant, glass is formed by a simple method. A coating of the film can be applied.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the surface of the plant is coated with a glass film obtained by hydrolyzing and dehydrating and condensing an organometallic compound to form an inorganic glass, so that the plant is formed by a glass film that is physicochemically stable. Is protected and is not affected by external factors such as moisture and oxygen, and a plant having excellent long-term storage stability is provided.

  The present invention is particularly effective when a flower material, that is, a processed flower such as a dried flower, a preserved flower, a pressed flower, or a fresh flower is used as a target plant. For example, a preserved flower in which a fresh flower that is a base material is immersed in a lower alcohol such as ethyl alcohol to replace the tissue water of the fresh flower with alcohol and then naturally dried can be stored for a relatively long period of time. One of the flower materials. However, while the alcohol content in the preserved flower is volatilized, the moisture in the air is absorbed and gradually deteriorates with the passage of time. When the surface of a flower material is covered with a physicochemically stable glass film according to the present invention, the exchange of substances between the flower material and the outside air is blocked by the glass film, and alcohol or the like to be left on the flower material The effect of completely preventing the volatilization of the active ingredient and the absorption of moisture, oxygen, etc., which are undesirable for long-term storage of the flower material, can be obtained over a long period. Therefore, the long-term preservation of processed flowers such as preserved flowers can be remarkably enhanced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Here, the plant to be processed is a flower material, that is, a processed flower such as a dried flower, a preserved flower, a pressed flower, or a fresh flower. Of course, it is possible to use a part of a plant such as a leaf or a stem instead of the flower material. Here, as an example, a case where the flower material is used will be described.

  The coating material used in the method of the present invention is a coating material containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst, wherein the organometallic compound is in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water and is 60 ° C. or less. It is vitrified by hydrolysis and dehydration condensation at temperature. As already mentioned, examples of coating materials that satisfy these characteristics include the commercial room temperature glass coating materials “HEATLESS GLASS GS-600 Series” (trade name of Nikko Corporation) and “HEATLESS GLASS GO-100SX” (Co., Ltd.) Nikko's product name), room temperature enamel coating material “Terios Coat NP-360 Series” (Nikko Corporation's product name) can be suitably used. These coating materials are particularly suitable because of their good adhesion to flower materials.

Fig. 1 shows the characteristics of the room temperature glass coating material "HEATLESS GLASS GS-600 series" (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) published by the catalog. This coating material is liquid at room temperature, its appearance is a pale yellow liquid, and its viscosity is 40 cp. When diluted, isopropyl alcohol is used as a diluent.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the thickness of the glass film obtained using this coating material is 10 to 13 μm, which is a very thin film.
The main effect test results of the room temperature glass coating materials “HEATLESS GLASS GS-600-1” and “HEATLESS GLASS GO-100SX” (both are trade names of Nikko Co., Ltd.), also published in the catalog, are shown in FIG. The film curing time of the coating material is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows that these coating materials have excellent water resistance, moisture resistance, and weather resistance. Furthermore, according to FIG. 3, the touch drying (the state where the finger is touched with a finger and dried so as not to leave a mark) is 2 to 3 hours, 15 to 20 minutes in the case of quick drying, and even compared with the case of a general paint. It turns out that there is nothing inferior or it dries and hardens earlier.

  Fig. 4 shows the main effect test results of the room temperature enamel coating material "Terios Coat NP-360 Series" (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) published in the catalog. FIG. 4 shows that the formed glass film is extremely excellent in water resistance, moisture resistance and weather resistance. The curing time of the coating material is “Terios Coat NP-360” (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.), curing at room temperature and JIS K 5400 base steel plate at 20 ° C for 1 hour to dry to the touch. Drying (hardness H) for 24 hours, complete curing (hardness 4H) for 1 week, while quick drying type “TERIOS COAT NP-360QD” (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) under the same conditions, touch drying 20 minutes, 24 hours for curing and drying (hardness 3H), and 1 week for complete curing (hardness 8H). “Terios Coat NP-360 / W” (trade name of Nikko Co., Ltd.) is a xylem coating material that is highly flexible and can follow the shrinkage of the substrate.

  When forming the above coating material film on the surface of the flower material, a method of directly applying a liquid coating material, a liquid coating material diluted by adding a lower alcohol such as isopropyl alcohol (one of the isomers of propanol) The method can be carried out by any one of a method of spraying, a method of heating and vaporizing a liquid coating material, or a method of immersing in a liquid coating material, but may be formed by other methods. In these cases, a liquid coating material to which a known colorant is added may be used for the purpose of forming a colored glass film on the surface of the flower material.

  In the case of vaporization of the liquid coating material, the coating material can be heated and vaporized using a processing apparatus described later, but the heating temperature here is processed by suppressing the surface of the flower material to 60 ° C. or less. It is preferable to prevent the flower material from being deteriorated (discoloration, fading, etc.) due to the heat of the coating material (or so as not to significantly accelerate the deterioration).

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a processing apparatus suitable for carrying out the processing method of the present invention by a method in which a liquid coating material is heated and vaporized.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the processing apparatus 100, a heating unit 130 is installed inside a substantially box-shaped case 111. A coating material tank 150 is placed on the heating unit 130, and the coating material 2 is charged into the coating material tank 150.

  A support shelf 120 is disposed on the left side of the case 111 in the drawing. The support shelf 120 is a shelf composed of two side plates 122 extending substantially vertically and a plurality of (five in the example of FIG. 1) shelf plates 121 disposed so as to straddle the two side plates 122. It is. In addition, it is preferable to comprise the shelf board 121 and the side board 122 with a net | network, for example so that the distribution | circulation of the vaporized coating material 2 mentioned later may not be prevented. A plurality of flower materials 3 are placed side by side on the shelf 121 of the support shelf 120. In addition, there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the place which installs the heating part 130 and the support shelf 120 in case 111. FIG.

  The case 111 is connected to a vacuuming device (not shown) through a pipe (not shown), and is configured to be evacuated in an airtight state. This is to prevent the flower material 3 from being exposed to a high temperature by making the periphery of the flower material 3 in a heat insulating state.

A processing method using the processing apparatus 100 configured as shown in FIG. 5 will be described.
First, a desired number of flower materials 3 are placed on the shelf 121 in the support shelf 120 installed in the case 111. At this time, the direction of the flower material 3 is arbitrary, but the side on which the petals are open may be directed upward or downward.
Subsequently, the coating material 2 is placed in the coating material tank 150 and placed on the heating unit 130, and the case is sealed and evacuated. Next, heating of the coating material tank 150 is started by the heating unit 130.

In the coating material tank 150 heated by the heating unit 130, the coating material 2 is vaporized and evaporated by heating and flows in the case 111, and the vaporized coating material 2 fills the case 111. The vaporized coating material 2 is liquefied by touching the surface of the flower material 3, and the entire surface of the flower material 3 is coated with the coating material 2. By continuously performing heating by the heating unit 130 for a predetermined time, the surface of the flower material 3 is uniformly covered with the film of the coating material 2.

  Next, the airtight state of the case 111 is released, and the flower material 3 is taken out from the case 111 and left in the air, or air is introduced into the case 111 while being placed on the shelf plate 121 of the support shelf 120 and exposed to the air. To dry at room temperature. In this drying process, the coating material film formed on the surface of the flower material 3 is hydrolyzed, dehydrated and condensed into a glass in the presence of water in the air.

  When the coating material 2 is vaporized and attached to the surface of the flower material 3, for example, the amount of the coating material required is much smaller than when the flower material 3 is dipped in the coating material and coated. Absent. Moreover, if it adheres by vaporization, the vaporized coating material 2 will fully reach the back of the fine gap of the flower material 3. Thereby, since the glass film | membrane which can coat | cover the whole plant almost completely can be given, the effect which prevents the damage of the flower material 3 is acquired in addition to the effect which raises the preservability of the flower material 3 remarkably. For example, when the border between petals and flower buds is completely coated on the flower, the glass film functions as a binder, and the petals can be prevented from falling off or cracking.

  In the above embodiment, the degree of heating by the heating unit 130 and the temperature of the coating material 2 vaporized in the case 111 can be appropriately changed. In general, processed plants such as dried flowers, preserved flowers, and pressed flowers, and raw plants (such as fresh flowers) are significantly deteriorated at temperatures exceeding about 60 ° C. Therefore, if the temperature of the vaporized coating material 2 is high, it may deteriorate due to the influence of heat when it adheres to the surface of the flower material 3, so that the heating of the heating unit 130 is controlled to such an extent that such a problem does not occur. It should be.

Dry flowers were used as the flower material, and quick-drying type coating material “Terios Coat NP-360QD” (trade name of Nikko Corporation) was used as the coating material.
A coating material was applied almost uniformly to the surface of the dried flower with a brush and allowed to dry naturally in a room temperature (24 ° C.) room. The coating material was dry to the touch in about 15 minutes and cured and dried in about 24 hours. The glass formed on the flower material surface was colorless and transparent, and the film thickness was about 10 μm.

  The flower material processed in this way is glossy by coating, but no deterioration such as discoloration or discoloration was observed in the flower material itself. Further, when the processed flower material was left in a room with a humidity of 60% to 70%, no deterioration was observed for more than one month. It was revealed that dried flowers and fresh flowers have extremely high storage stability as compared to the significant deterioration in days or weeks.

It is a graph which shows the main characteristics of the coating material suitable for the method of this invention. It is a graph which shows the main effect test results of the said coating material. It is a chart which shows the film hardening time of the above-mentioned coating material. It is a graph which shows the main effect test results of the other coating material suitable for the method of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the example of a processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Processing apparatus 111 Case 120 Support shelf 121 Shelf plate 122 Side plate 130 Heating part 150 Coating material tank 2 Coating material 3 Flower material

Claims (4)

  A liquid coating material film containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst is formed on the surface of the plant, and the organometallic compound is heated to a temperature of 60 ° C. or less in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water. Then, the plant is processed by hydrolysis, dehydration condensation, and vitrification.   The plant according to claim 1, wherein the plant is supported in an airtight case, and the coating material is heated in the airtight case to adhere to the surface of the plant to form a coating material film. Processing method.   A liquid coating material containing a hydrolyzable organometallic compound and a reaction catalyst is sprayed or applied to the surface of the plant to form a film, and the organometallic compound is formed in the presence of the reaction catalyst and water and A plant processing method characterized by hydrolyzing and dehydrating and condensing at a temperature of 60 ° C. or less. A plant excellent in long-term storage characteristics, characterized in that the surface of the plant is coated with a glass film obtained by hydrolyzing and dehydrating and condensing an organometallic compound into an inorganic glass.

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