Wood is an excellent material for construction. He is very strong, cheap, renewable and very malleable. And it is very likely that wood will find its use in the manufacture of windows and solar panels, as a cheaper alternative to more traditional silicon glass. The fact is that a group of researchers from the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology (KHT), led by Professor Lars Berglund, found a way to chemically remove lignin from natural wood fibers.
Lignin, in turn, is a substance that characterizes the stiffened walls of plant cells. Thanks to its removal, scientists managed to “discolor” the tree and make it practically transparent.
To achieve complete transparency, the remaining material was mixed with prepolymerized methyl methacrylate (PMMA). He added reflection properties to the composition and at the same time endowed it with transparency properties. Depending on the application, the level of transparency can be changed by changing the ratio of natural wood cells and PMMA composition.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that scientists have been able to make the plant structure transparent. For example, nanofibrillated cellulose as the basis for creating computer chips based on wood. However, according to KHT scientists, the new production process is much better suited for large-scale tasks and mass production.
Currently, researchers are looking for a way to increase the transparency of the material by changing the manufacturing process and using a variety of wood species.
“The fact that the material comes from a renewable source is very attractive,” says Berglund.
“It has excellent mechanical properties, including high strength, strength, low density and low thermal conductivity.”
The article is based on materials .
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