Materials

"Super wood" sports the strength of steel

A new densification process can make "super wood" that's 12 times stronger than natural wood
University of Maryland
A new densification process can make "super wood" that's 12 times stronger than natural wood
University of Maryland

Titanium alloys are some of the strongest materials we can build with, but they can be expensive. Now, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have come up with a way to make an alternative that literally grows on trees. Using a new "densification" process, the team managed to make "super wood" that has the strength and toughness of steel.

Wood is already a pretty versatile material, but the leader of the UMD team, Liangbing Hu, has been working to give it an even longer list of uses. Over the last few years, Hu has developed transparent wood, burnt-wood water filters, and sodium-ion batteries based on wood and leaves.

The new "super wood" gets its super strength through a two-step process developed by Hu's team. First, the researchers boil samples of wood in a watery mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite, which works to partially remove lignin and hemicellulose from the material. Then, the treated wood is hot-pressed, which causes the cell walls to collapse and forms highly-aligned cellulose nanofibers. The end result is completely densified wood, which is much stronger than the natural stuff.

"This new way to treat wood makes it 12 times stronger than natural wood and 10 times tougher," says Hu. "This could be a competitor to steel or even titanium alloys, it is so strong and durable. It's also comparable to carbon fiber, but much less expensive."

One of the experiments the team ran to test the material was to fire projectiles at it. While they blasted right through the natural wood, the super wood managed to stop the projectiles partway through.

The researchers say that the process can be applied to many different kinds of wood, and can be scaled to treat bulk amounts of the material at once. At the beginning of the process, the wood can be bent and molded into the desired shape.

The new material could allow wood to step in as a cheaper, lighter and more renewable alternative to steels and titanium alloys. And it could allow softer woods to compete with their sturdier but slower-growing cousins.

"This kind of wood could be used in cars, airplanes, buildings – any application where steel is used," says Hu. "Soft woods like pine or balsa, which grow fast and are more environmentally friendly, could replace slower-growing but denser woods like teak in furniture or buildings."

The research was published in the journal Nature.

Source: University of Maryland via ScienceDaily

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19 comments
Gizmowiz
Wow this is super breakthrough that people just don't realize the importance of yet.
MartinVoelker
There's a good chance that these denser woods are also less prone to decay and termite damage. This could be a game changer.
Nik
Wood has a grain, so responds differently to loads in different directions. Does this process remove that factor? If not, it will be much more difficult to use than metals that dont have directional characteristics. Next question, is, how does it respond to flame. Is it still as flammable as normal wood? If so, then to replace steel, it would need to be fireproofed in some applications which could add cost and complexity to the final product. There are still many questions to answer before it will replace steel, but if it lives up to its promise, it will be another very useful material.
Gibbo
I agree with Vincent - this will have an important impact. Investing into timber like teak is popular from a generational financial aspect - this could undermine investment plantations that take 30+yrs to grow. Common fast growing wood can now cheaply compete with the best materials available. It will be interesting to follow how this commercially develops.
petunia
Sounds promising. Production process, and costs, will determine if this technology gets off the ground.
Lardo
Tree-huggers are gonna have a fit over this.
Bruce H. Anderson
If this can work on soft woods, then I wonder if the next step is to try with other materials like bamboo or some grasses. The ability to bend it to shape in the process could of special interest to high-end architects who want the look of wood but may have had to settle for steel for structural reasons. To Nik's point, the structural capacities of steel are usually determined by the shape (I-beams, angles, channels). Very interesting.
ferniez
How prone to termite and biological damage will this material be? If it can be made termite and weather resistant then this would be a boon.
Captain Obvious
Years ago, I used phenolic-impregnated wood for structural insulators. Heavy, strong stuff.
CharlieSeattle
This really puts stealth into navy ships.