Citrus Derivative Makes Transparent Wood 100 Percent Renewable Details 05 May 2021
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Since it was first introduced in 2016, transparent wood has been developed by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology as one of the most innovative new structural materials for building construction.
Since it was first introduced in 2016, transparent wood has been developed by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology as one of the most innovative new structural materials for building construction. It lets natural light through and can even store thermal energy.
The key to making wood into a transparent composite material is to strip out its lignin, the major light-absorbing component in wood. But the empty pores left behind by the absence of lignin need to be filled with something that restores the wood’s strength and allows light to permeate.
Researchers use orange peel extract to create renewable transparent WOOD that could soon be used in smart windows
To make see-through wood, scientists strip out the lignin, a polymer in the cell walls that blocks most light
Earlier attempts at transparent wood replaced lignin with fossil-fuel polymers
A new eco-friendly composite utilizes a monomer made from citrus peel extract
It s capable of heavy-duty performance and is intended for structural use
It could eventually be used in smart windows and even wooden lasers
Credit: Céline Montanari
Since it was first introduced in 2016, transparent wood has been developed by researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology as an innovative structural material for building construction. It lets natural light through and can even store thermal energy.
The key to making wood into a transparent composite material is to strip out its lignin, the major light-absorbing component in wood. But the empty pores left behind by the absence of lignin need to be filled with something that restores the wood s strength and allows light to permeate.
In earlier versions of the composite, researchers at KTH s Wallenberg Wood Science Centre used fossil-based polymers. Now, the researchers have successfully tested an eco-friendly alternative: limonene acrylate, a monomer made from limonene. They reported their results in
Big Potential for Electronic Textiles Made with Cellulose Thread labmanager.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from labmanager.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But experts say that to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has found that a thread made of conductive cellulose offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles.
“Miniature, wearable, electronic gadgets are ever more common in our daily lives. But currently, they are often dependent on rare, or in some cases toxic, materials. They are also leading to a gradual build-up of great mountains of electronic waste. There is a real need for organic, renewable materials for use in electronic textiles,” said Sozan Darabi, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, and lead author of the scientific article, which was recently published in