Get your mind out of the gutter . We ’re talking aboutrealwood – you know , from trees .
This super - concentrated wood is made by modifying the poriferous anatomical structure of raw wood using a chemical tub and hot pressing .
Wood is constitute ofcellsmade of three substances : cellulose ( 50 percent ) , lignin ( around 20 percent look on the wood ) , and hemicellulose ( the remainder ) .
Boiling different type of wood in a sodium hydroxide and Na sulfite solution for seven 60 minutes left starchy cellulose mostly integral but removed surrounding lignin ( a polymer that hold fast cellulose ) , creating more outer space . Then , researchers pressed these wood blocks “ like a panini sandwich ” for a day at a temperature of 100 ° C ( 212 ° F ) and a insistence of five megapascals ( 50 time that of sea - level air ) to splash the cellulose tubes ( nanofibers ) together until those cells interlock .
“ It ’s a new class of materials with majuscule potential , ” said cobalt - author Li Teng , a mechanics specialist at the University of Maryland in College Park , in astatement . The inquiry is published inNature .
The solution : a wooden sheet one - twenty percent the heaviness , 11.5 clock time stronger , and three times the tightness of instinctive wood .
This ultra - compact wood is as hard as steel and investigator tested it the same direction they essay military vehicles : by shooting stainless steel pellets from an air gun jaunt about 30 meters ( 98 feet ) per second .
The “ slug " easily break through a typical wood plan but got lodged in the denser wood .
They found it is n’t necessarily strong enough to protect against oncoming shelling , but researchers say they hope the lightweight wood option could be used to supersede steel in mental synthesis and vehicle manufacturing .
In 2010 , the total emissions from brand production were 2,500 million metric ton ( 2,750 million oodles ) . That number isprojected to riseto 2,800 million tonnes ( 3,000 million gobs ) by 2050 .
Plans to dilute steel - related emissions are already underway . China – the world ’s heavy manufacturer of steel – intends to reduce150 million tonnes(165 million tons ) of steel - product capacity by 2020 .
Yet mankind crude sword output increased by 5.3 percent in2017 .
Expertssayemissions due to steel production want to be reduce with more accurate and diversified building products .
former effort to densify wood go back to the1940sand some researcher say Teng ’s improvements are underwhelming .
Fred Kamke with Oregon State University say other techniques , like steam the Sir Henry Joseph Wood before intervention and treating it with resins , achieves much of the same affect .
“ These other methods are believably much less expensive than a seven - hour furuncle in a caustic solution , ” he toldNature .
German plant biomechanics investigator Michaela Eder added that compressing Sir Henry Joseph Wood to increase density should naturally ameliorate strength , but it ’s unclear how this new method contributed .
However , the research worker say the chemicals used in the process do n’t pose any meaning pollution business and hope the strengthened woodwind could be a more eco - friendly and sustainable choice .
