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Laboratory investigation measures tensile strength and thermal properties in transparent wood, suggesting potential as a UV-resistant material.
Transparent wood is a new, renewable and sustainable material that has the potential to replace glass as a window material. This research aimed to treat transparent wood with epoxy resin, investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of transparent wood, and examine the suitability of transparent wood as an ultraviolet-resistant material. Transparent wood is made by delignifying wood using a chemical method, and then an infiltrating epoxy resin polymer is used. The bending and cracking of transparent wood samples were observed after exposure to natural UV light. The density, tensile strength and thermal conductivity measurements of balsa wood, transparent wood, and epoxy resin were measured. The effect of UV exposure was observed within weeks; the samples became yellow and cracked. This change is due to epoxy resins' UV resistance and chemical substances remaining in delignified wood. The tensile strength of transparent wood is 0.02 MPa. The high viscosity of epoxy resin causes incomplete infiltration of delignified wood. The thermal conductivity of transparent wood is lower than that of glass. In conclusion, the type of epoxy resin used for fabricating transparent wood should have high UV resistance, low viscosity, and long working time. The thermal conductivity of transparent wood is lower than that of glass.
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Chong et al. (2025) studied this question.
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