Glass has a lot of things going for it. It can be shaped and molded into intricate shapes, recycled over and over with little to no degradation, and it’s transparent. Of course, glass is also heavy, and it requires plenty of fuel to make it, as furnaces can reach temperatures of up to 1500 to 1700°C (2700–3100°F), typically using natural gas. Other materials can be made transparent as well, like plastic and even wood.
Plastic has its own set of ecological complications, because duh. Transparent wood also requires a lot of chemicals and energy. Some researchers, however, may have a new way to turn wood into a translucent material that holds promise for a more environmentally friendly alternative in a multitude of applications.
Scientists from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland developed a new method of making wood transparent by altering the lignin in wood. Lignin is the polymer responsible for light absorption and material rigidity.
Previous methods would remove lignin using chemical solutions. However, the University of Maryland researchers instead lightened the lignin using hydrogen peroxide and applied sunlight, then adding a refractive epoxy. The new technique can get applied as patterns to wood up to 3mm thick, with excellent optical performance. The transparent wood could also serve as a replacement for glass and plastic as a material in buildings, products, and, yes, even packaging.
You can read more about the study here because you know you totally want to get your hands on some supremely cool see-through wood.
