UMD Discovers Transparent Wood

Material scientists at UMD have discovered a way to make wood transparent. Stronger than glass and more biodegradable than plastic, transparent wood has endless possible applications. Learn more: go.umd.edu/wtb

[@kainenable]

So they have discovered epoxy?

[@deez1321]

fibre class but with wood. so fibre wood

[@Schadrach42]

Actually, there was a paper published on the process. The basic premise is that they use a solution of sodium hydroxide mixed with sodium sulfite to remove most of the lignin from the wood, then another round with hydrogen peroxide to clean it (the peroxide reacting to form oxygen bubbles inside the wood is important as it helps remove the remaining lignin. Then they wash the result in alcohol and soak that in epoxy. Preferably doing the epoxy soak under vacuum to pull the remaining ethanol, air, and any other impurities out of the wood to make room for the epoxy to soak into the gaps in the wood left behind by the removal of moisture and lignin. They use the specific epoxy they do in the paper because it's fairly thin and thus fairly effective at soaking into the wood, though it's not a terribly strong or rigid epoxy.
The result has most of the properties of wood, except that it's stronger, a better insulator, and it's color is a slightly cloudier version of whatever color epoxy was used (in this case clear). Sometimes with some defects from other organic dyes in the wood. The slight cloudy/blurriness is from the cellulose, and how bad it is depends on processing conditions and just how thoroughly the epoxy penetrates. Thinner pieces and better vacuums tend to do better.

[@Greaner762]

@@Schadrach42 wasnt this originally the work of the wallenburg wood science center?

[@oneiricj4877]

does it still have the soft touch of wood??

[@gregoirebessette8536]

I wish they use something more friendly than epoxy for using it very sometimes there is some better resin now friendlier.

[@jebinnihala8814]

Is there any implementation of this wood

[@kufe4265]

Where do you buy it?

[@cambriawatson2884]

That is amazing! As a builder, this creates so many possibilities

[@SleepDaMouse-xd8dn]

Cambria Watson lol how so? It's basically opoxy but it degrades faster and you have to cut down trees for it anyway. So how is this a better building material?

[@samamira642]

awesome

[@dreamkiss4u]

its bs they only have been able to do it to a thin slab of wood because its the easiest to drown out the color pigment then they saturate it with the epoxy ....so in essence its epoxy with the leftover fibers the wood had.....tho pretty much the strength comes from the epoxy and no longer any wood strength.

[@richardwooten7657]

SO WE PUT IT ON THE SHELF ? TODAY IS 2021 JUNE !!! ANYBODY OUT THERE ?

[@mikeschulze7830]

but is no wood anymore? its more plastics and not natural, this makes no sense. to expensive

[@Grim821]

"Almost as transparent as glass." ..............you sure bout that?

[@robertneighbors4091]

Epoxy not that biodegradeable. This technique already known soaking treated, dried wood in methacrylate.

[@beinganangeltreon]

Thank you wood researchers! A thing you could do to make this product even better is to cryogenically treat it. There is a patent on treating maple bats with cold to make them 27% stronger, and the idea of cryogenically treating building and furniture lumber is new and public domain at www.halfbakery.com/idea/Breeding_20cryogenically_20treatable_20wood#1610069938 You may already have -86 and -180 lab fridges in your building, pop in a sample, then see how it functions 24 hours later. 27% stronger is of course 27% less material and perhaps 27% more affordable.

[@manongdodong1]

With epoxy, it cant be biodegradable. Try again.

[@angelcram20]

Now I have heard wood for this wood 🪵