2016, MAY 13,  Hu group’s work on transparent window is highlighted in New York Times, CNN, CCT and many others

This block may look like plastic, but it’s actually wood.

Using a two-step process, researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, stripped away the plank’s tan and brown color and made it clear. The see-through wood, which the scientists say is stronger and a better insulator than glass, and more biodegradable than plastic, could one day be used in windows, tables and other building supplies.

“We were very surprised by how transparent it could go,” said Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist at the university, and an author of a paper that appeared last week in the journal Advanced Materials. “This can really open applications that can potentially replace glass and some optical material.” Continue reading →

Researchers at the University of Maryland have made a block of linden wood transparent, which they say will be useful in fancy building materials and in light-based electronics systems.

Materials scientist Liangbing Hu (also a member of the Maryland NanoCenter and the University of Maryland’s Energy Research Center) and his team at the University of Maryland, College Park, have removed the molecule in wood—lignin—that makes it rigid and dark in color. They left behind the colorless cellulose cell structures, filled them with epoxy, and came up with a version of the wood that is mostly see-thru. They published their results today in the journal Advanced Materials. Continue reading →