SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2025 — Imagine a future where your smartphone incorporates a wooden touchscreen, enhancing not only its aesthetic appeal but also its environmental footprint. In recent advances within material science, researchers have been exploring the concept of transparent wood, a modification of conventional wood that lends itself to uses in a variety of technological and architectural applications. This innovative material stands as a sturdy, eco-friendly alternative to plastics, which have ravaged ecosystems and accumulated in landfills globally. It transforms the perception of wood by demonstrating that it can be made not only transparent but also electrically conductive, all while utilizing predominantly natural materials.
This intriguing research will be presented at the highly anticipated spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), taking place from March 23 to March 27, 2025. The ACS Spring meeting is known for its extensive programming, featuring approximately 12,000 presentations covering a myriad of scientific disciplines, making it a cornerstone event for scientific discourse. Bharat Baruah, a professor of chemistry at Kennesaw State University, heads this research effort. He has become increasingly aware of the pervasive use of plastics in modern technology and the dire need to transition toward more sustainable materials that retain the functional qualities necessary for electronic devices. His motivation stems from an urgent desire to find a biodegradable alternative to the non-decomposable plastics currently dominating the market.
Reflecting on his journey into transparent woods, Baruah attributes his fascination to his woodworking hobby, which sparked his interest in the properties of natural materials. Many existing iterations of transparent wood, however, have relied on synthetic polymers such as epoxies for structural integrity, which directly undermines their biodegradability. To navigate this contradiction, Baruah drew inspiration from traditional building methods in his native Assam, India, where ancient masons successfully used combinations of natural binding agents—such as sticky rice and egg whites—to create durable cement-like compounds. This historical knowledge fueled Baruah’s exploration of utilizing similar natural materials to enhance the strength and stability of transparent woods.
At its core, transparent wood is engineered by chemically manipulating the structural components of conventional wood, which primarily consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The process begins with the removal of lignin and hemicellulose components, resulting in a porous, cellulose-rich network. This cellulose structure can then be infused with colorless materials, capable of filling the removed components’ voids and restoring rigidity to the modified wood. The ingenious approach employed by Baruah and his team involved delignifying balsa wood by utilizing a vacuum chamber to treat the wood with chemical agents such as sodium sulfite and sodium hydroxide, followed by a bleaching process. The final step was to refill the resulting pores with a mixture of egg white and rice extract, along with a curing agent, diethylenetriamine, to ensure optical clarity.
The results have been promising, leading to the creation of flexible, semi-transparent wood that holds significant potential for application in various domains. One exciting application being investigated is the utilization of this new wood as an alternative to glass in windows. By leveraging his woodworking skills, Baruah converted a simple birdhouse into a functional model equipped with an energy-efficient transparent wood window. By measuring temperature variations within the makeshift abode under controlled heat exposure, the results indicated that interiors remained several degrees cooler when transparent wood was employed instead of traditional glass. This finding opens up avenues for utilizing such engineered woods in constructing energy-efficient homes.
In a bid to expand the utility of transparent wood, the research team introduced silver nanowires to certain samples, enabling the wood to conduct electricity. While it’s essential to acknowledge that silver nanowires themselves are not biodegradable, the researchers remain committed to exploring alternative conductive materials, like graphene, that could preserve the organic integrity of their wood prototypes. This innovative step could pave the way for transparent wood to be integrated into wearable sensors and even coatings for solar cells, bridging the gap between functionality and environmental responsibility.
Despite the innovative strides made in their research, the journey remains fraught with challenges. The team acknowledges the need for additional studies aimed at enhancing the transparency of their engineered woods before commercial applications can be realized. Nonetheless, Baruah remains optimistic, emphasizing that this initial exploration utilized mostly natural and readily available materials, reiterating a crucial message to his students: meaningful research can occur without the need for exorbitant funding, fostering creativity with limited resources.
In conclusion, the study on transparent wood heralds a paradigm shift in the endeavors to replace plastics within modern technology. With its promise of sustainability and versatility, transparent wood may not only provide practical solutions for existing challenges but also inspire a new generation of eco-conscious innovations. As consumer habits shift towards prioritizing environmental responsibility, developments such as these signify our collective journey toward a more sustainable future.
The research was made possible with support from Kennesaw State University and Purafil Inc., demonstrating the collaborative spirit that drives such exciting scientific advances. For those interested in diving deeper into the potentials of transparent wood, the ACS Spring 2025 program will provide a comprehensive platform for further discussion on this groundbreaking work.
Subject of Research: Transparent Wood Engineering
Article Title: Fabrication of transparent wood from by impregnating voids in delignified wood and possible application in energy efficiency and electrical devices
News Publication Date: March 26, 2025
Web References: ACS Spring 2025 Program
References: None Available
Image Credits: Bharat Baruah
Keywords
Transparent Wood, eco-friendly materials, sustainability, electrical conductivity, biodegradable alternatives, innovative materials, energy efficiency, cellulose, lignin, polymers, renewable resources.
