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Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

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Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#21

Post by jaggederest »

milesvp wrote: post #15
ortusdux wrote: post #4

Nile Red did a great video on his attempts to reproduce these results: https://youtu.be/x1H-323d838

I've only recently come across Nile Red, and I highly endorse his videos. I somehow managed to spend over half an hour watching him extract water from epsom salt, and even though it was nearly the equivalent of watching paint dry, it still remained fascinating to watch.

Ironically, it turns out that paint drying is an incredibly complex and fascinating process. Whether it's acrylic, latex, oil or resin-based paint, there are some deep things happening in there.

I actually once got a job (partly) by discussing the chemistry of crosslinking polymerization in oil paint with my future boss.

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#22

Post by andrew_ »

craftinator wrote: post #16
andylynch wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a clever variation on impregnation resins, which aren’t now and are getting more and more popular. It will depend on the timber and treatment, but expect higher tensile & compressive strength then the wood, plus more hardness and stability. This would be very interesting for structural windows and likely much cheaper than glass in similar size. Probably better thermal insulation too.

I'd worry about the effects of UV on the resins, if replacing windows with it. Would likely need a coating to prevent discoloration.

Not only discoloration but general structural degradation of the material.

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#23

Post by ooboe »

jandrese wrote: post #5

So it's fiberglass except it uses thin strips of bleached wood in place of the glass fiber substrate? Also, being lighter than glass (presumably by unit volume?) is a pretty low bar. Glass is heavy. "Stronger" is so vague it's almost meaningless. Stronger under tension? Compression? Flex? Impact resistance? What?

Several mechanical properties are discussed in the published paper:

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/5/eabd7342

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#24

Post by qart »

milesvp wrote: post #15
ortusdux wrote: post #4

Nile Red did a great video on his attempts to reproduce these results: https://youtu.be/x1H-323d838

I've only recently come across Nile Red, and I highly endorse his videos. I somehow managed to spend over half an hour watching him extract water from epsom salt, and even though it was nearly the equivalent of watching paint dry, it still remained fascinating to watch.

If you like Nile Red, also check out Cody'sLab and Explosions&Fire. Cody does all kinds of wacky things like drinking diluted cyanide. Explosions&Fire synthesizes all kinds of weird explosives, some of which even scare chemistry professors.

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#25

Post by dzhiurgis »

jandrese wrote: post #5

So it's fiberglass except it uses thin strips of bleached wood in place of the glass fiber substrate? Also, being lighter than glass (presumably by unit volume?) is a pretty low bar. Glass is heavy. "Stronger" is so vague it's almost meaningless. Stronger under tension? Compression? Flex? Impact resistance? What?

I'll also add that marine epoxy is pretty nasty stuff, although there has been innovations there too.

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#27

Post by neonate »

gregschlom wrote: post #18
lanecwagner wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eats, chutes, and leaves

Shoots, not chutes. Otherwise the joke makes no sense. (Pandas eat shoots and leaves).

It could be a skydiver who had a snack in the plane before jumping.

Re: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass

#28

Post by OpieCunningham »

gregschlom wrote: post #18
lanecwagner wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eats, chutes, and leaves

Shoots, not chutes. Otherwise the joke makes no sense. (Pandas eat shoots and leaves).

Or a game of Chutes & Ladders, during lunch, in a forest
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