Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

So this seems pretty amazing. Researchers at the university of Maryland have developed a 'transparent wood' nearly as clear as glass, but with the strength and insulating properties of wood.

They start by bleaching the wood using hydrogen peroxide and the sun, next they simply soaked the wood in transparent epoxy which filled in the gaps leftover after the bleaching turning the piece of wood 90% transparent.

They're not quite at the level where it can be scaled up yet, but there's potential for this to be a great nee building material.

www.cbc.ca...

Researchers at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary sheets of wood into transparent material that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties. It could become an energy efficient building material in the future.

Wood is made of two basic ingredients: cellulose, which are tiny fibres, and lignin, which bonds those fibres together to give it strength.

Starting with planks of wood a metre long and one millimetre thick, the scientists simply brushed on a solution of hydrogen peroxide using an ordinary paint brush. When left in the sun, or under a UV lamp for an hour or so, the peroxide bleached out the brown chromophores but left the lignin intact, so the wood turned white.

Next, they infused the wood with a tough transparent epoxy designed for marine use, which filled in the spaces and pores in the wood and then hardened. This made the white wood transparent.

You can see a similar effect by taking that same piece of paper towel, dip half of it in water and place it on a patterned surface. The white paper towel will become translucent with light passing through the water and cellulose fibres without being scattered by refraction.

The epoxy in the wood does an even better job, allowing 90 per cent of visible light to pass through. The result is a long piece of what looks like glass, with the strength and flexibility of wood.

Many different types of wood, from balsa to oak, can be made transparent, and it doesn't matter if it is cut along the grain or against it. If the transparent wood is made a little thicker, it would be strong enough to become part of the structure of a building, so there could be entire transparent wooden walls.

While this technology has yet to be scaled up to industrial levels, the researchers say it has great potential as a new building material.

Starting with planks of wood a metre long and one millimetre thick, the scientists simply brushed on a solution of hydrogen peroxide using an ordinary paint brush. When left in the sun, or under a UV lamp for an hour or so, the peroxide bleached out the brown chromophores but left the lignin intact, so the wood turned white.

Next, they infused the wood with a tough transparent epoxy designed for marine use, which filled in the spaces and pores in the wood and then hardened. This made the white wood transparent.

I like how they make it sound like a home crafting project. Neat discovery though.

Impressive! Reminded me of a documentary I saw a while back on the miraculous hemp plant. It was amazing.
It has so many uses, it's mind-boggling.

Amazing indeed. But..basically it is not wood. It's epoxy. More eco-unfriendly stuff. How about recycling? With glass it's not a problem (well almost).

originally posted by: ColeYounger
Impressive! Reminded me of a documentary I saw a while back on the miraculous hemp plant. It was amazing.
It has so many uses, it's mind-boggling.

Wisconsin used to be the Hemp center of the world.
There are a lot of conspiracies on why it was removed but a lot of them point to
the emergence of plastics & the people that got rich from it.

We need to get back to natural products.

a reply to: dug88

Odd that it can have the same insulation properties of wood since the wood is gone the cells hold epoxy I assume.
Another one of those "discoveries" like the transparent aluminum that they said they would build aircraft from soon...when was that? Heard nothing more about it years later.
Oh I see you said

Researchers at the university of Maryland have developed a 'transparent wood' nearly as clear as glass, but with the strength and insulating properties of wood.

They said
"that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties."
Stronger than glass not strong as wood.

a reply to: Caveman122

Yeah, I was wondering about how flammable it would be, compared to glass?

a reply to: dug88

Eureka! This is going up in the guest bedroom and bathroom.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: ColeYounger
Impressive! Reminded me of a documentary I saw a while back on the miraculous hemp plant. It was amazing.
It has so many uses, it's mind-boggling.

Wisconsin used to be the Hemp center of the world.
There are a lot of conspiracies on why it was removed but a lot of them point to
the emergence of plastics & the people that got rich from it.

We need to get back to natural products.

I remember when plastic was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now it's so cheap that it's no better than sliced tire. I remember being a kid in the 80's and leaving my He-Man figures behind my dad's company truck. After he ran over them in our gravel driveway, I'd find them and they'd have a couple little divots in them. Buy one today and you can't even step on it in the dark because it cracks.

Cleaver these “scientists” are. Invent a product that already exists. Just google clear epoxy wood fillers.

a reply to: dug88

Ok. The transparency is 90% through a 1mm sheet, per the OP with the same insulating properties of wood.

Insulating glass is a minimum of 3mm thick.

Does this mean 3 sheets of wood giving transparency of 90% x 90% x 90% or a maximum of 73% of the glass equivalent?

NB. From Wikipedia 'Insulated Glazing'

Insulating glass units (IGUs) are typically manufactured with glass in thicknesses from 3 to 10 mm (1/8" to 3/8"). Thicker glass is used in special applications. Laminated or tempered glass may also be used as part of the construction.

This process is very similar to restoring yellowed plastic.

Cover plastic in hydrogen peroxide, expose to UV.

This is great. You could let a lot more natural light into a home, without losing all the heat. I'd say it would be a welcome product up here in Alaska, where often windows are left small to preserve heat, rather than the deal with expense of multi-paned glass to insulate. I wonder if it's doable with say a six-inch slab of wood.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

It's a process they invented, not a clear wood filler.

I think this is pretty cool re-inventioning of an old idea.

Exciting times were living in.

a reply to: dug88

Great...

I already stub my toe on the futon and I can see d@mn thing right there and now they want to make it invisible?!??!!



The “idea” is interesting but there has been a lot of work to materials “see through” (everyone’s favorite is “metallic glass”, as in Star Trek IV. Google ATS, look for the aircraft project forum for “see through ceramic glass”).

I like idea, the attempt, and the results but epoxy either goes brittle and crumbles, or worse, drips. Maybe if they wrap the whole thing in a 2 dimensional material that also opaque... hum??

IKEA must be peeing their pants right now!

originally posted by: Guyfriday

Starting with planks of wood a metre long and one millimetre thick, the scientists simply brushed on a solution of hydrogen peroxide using an ordinary paint brush. When left in the sun, or under a UV lamp for an hour or so, the peroxide bleached out the brown chromophores but left the lignin intact, so the wood turned white.

Next, they infused the wood with a tough transparent epoxy designed for marine use, which filled in the spaces and pores in the wood and then hardened. This made the white wood transparent.

I like how they make it sound like a home crafting project. Neat discovery though.

Why not? I just may have to try it. I have wood. I have hydrogen peroxide. I have a brush. I have access to marine epoxy.

Let the games begin.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
I like idea, the attempt, and the results but epoxy either goes brittle and crumbles, or worse, drips.

I didn't know it could drip but I'd be worried about the epoxy losing its transparency after exposure to the UV radiation in sunlight which degrades it. I'm pleased to see someone mention the degradation of epoxy after all the posts of people thinking this is a neat idea and possibly using it for window-type applications. How can the scientists not know of the problems with epoxy? Or perhaps they do.

If it's just some off-the-shelf epoxy without special properties, I'd expect it to become discolored and lose some of its properties as the UV degraded it, though I'll gladly be corrected if they have a special type of epoxy and have run UV tests that show otherwise. However, the following link claims "There Is No Such Thing as a UV Resistant Epoxy" and adds that it can discolor even in indoor applications. I think it will discolor, the variable is how much which depends on epoxy composition and amount of UV exposure.

Does UV Resistant Epoxy Exist?

some drawbacks of epoxy are its poor scratch and UV resistance. It tends to discolor (amber) rapidly upon exposure to UV and even with indoor applications, epoxy still ambers over time; the degree at which it will discolor depends on the specific formulations and ingredients used.

There Is No Such Thing as a UV Resistant Epoxy

OMG! this was on ATS many years ago!
it got disappeared.......