This study investigated changes in thephysical propertiesof oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)wood (OPW) usingvariousbufferedmediafor the hydrothermal treatment process. The bufferedmediawere prepared separately forthree different treatmentconditions: pHof 8, pH of 5,and tap water. These treatmentswerecompared with unbuffered,control samples.The OPW samples were taken from the outerpart of the trees. The OPWsamples weretreated with the bufferedmediaat a temperature of 140°C for 120 min. The parameters evaluated werewood density(ρ), equilibrium moisture content (EMC), mass loss (ML), waterabsorption(WA), volumetric swelling(SV), anti-swelling efficiency (ASE),and water repellent efficiency (WRE),forboth treatedand untreatedsamples. Thebufferedmediasignificantlyaffectedthe EMC(%), ρ(g/cm3), ML(%),andWA(%),with no significanteffectson the ASE(%)and WRE(%).It was concluded that the hydrothermal treatment in the bufferedmedium with a pH of 8 had the most significanteffect on the physical properties of OPW
