Wood, an inexpensive and renewable resource, has many applications. Including building materials for high rises, bicycles, and foam insulation. Recently researchers developed transparent wood for potential use in windows, and solar cells, providing a cheaper alternative to silica-based glass. Led by Prof. Lars Berglund at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, researchers chemically remove lignin from natural wood fibers – lignin is one component of wood cell walls. What was left was a material that was “beautifully white,” but still not transparent.
Continue reading… “Transparent wood is the new glass”
