Researchers Develop Transparent Wood that ‘Outperforms Glass’

USDA Forest ServiceNew research has provided a window into the future of transparent wood and its use as, well, windows. 

Forest Products Laboratory researcher Junyong Zhu collaborated with colleagues at the universities of Maryland and Colorado to develop a see-through wood that the U.S. Department of Agriculture says has “the potential to outperform glass currently used in construction in nearly every way.”

The material is created by bleaching low-density wood from a balsa tree with a room-temperature oxidizing bath. The wood is then treated with polyvinyl alcohol, a synthetic polymer that makes the wood transparent.

“The natural cellulose in its wood structure and energy-absorbing polymer filler in transparent wood means that it is far more durable and lighter than glass,” according to the USDA. “It can withstand much stronger impacts than glass and, unlike glass, it bends or splinters instead of shattering.”

The wood is also five times more thermally efficient than glass and can be manufactured with lower carbon emissions.

Zhu’s research paper, “A Clear, Strong, and Thermally Insulated Transparent Wood for Energy Efficient Windows,” can be found here.