If you think of woodwind as a material , you might describe it with many different adjectives . Sturdy , warm , pliant , peradventure moderately , depending on the tone . crystalline is not normally one of them , but research worker have now arise a method to make semi - crystalline wood a realism , and it could have interesting applications in the future .
There is already a portion of woodwind that is transparent : cellulose . However , two other components in woodwind instrument are not , which are hemicellulose and lignin . It is possible to remove these two , leaving behind just the cellulose , but this would also off the sturdiness of the stuff .
A slab of just cellulose is colourless but porous , and in the past , attempts at making transparent wood have used plastics to fill in the pores and provide rigidity . To avoid theplasticaspect , Professor Bharat Baruah take inspiration from a construction technique used in the northeasterly Indian state of Assam , where he grew up . Ancient cement in the area was made by mixing sand with Elmer Rice and egg whites .
“ In the modern day , plastic is everywhere , include the machine that we bear around . And it ’s a problem when we reach the destruction of that machine ’s living . It ’s not biodegradable , ” Baruah , who ’s a prof of chemistry at Kennesaw State University , enunciate in astatement . “ So , I ask , what if we can create something that ’s natural and biodegradable or else ? ”
Together with undergraduate Ridham Raval , Baruah placed balsa wood pieces in a vacuum chamber and removed lignin and hemicellulose using a compounding of chemicals that included sodium sulfite , Na hydroxide , and cut blanching agent . The material was then overcharge in an egg white and rice mixture , and finally , cured with diethylenetriamine , a colorless liquidity . That ’s how you make a semi - transparent slice ofwood – and tattily , too .
“ I require to send a message to my undergraduate students that you could do interesting inquiry without spend thousands of dollar , ” Baruah extend .
Testing the wood show that window made of the material could be better at insulate a star sign than glass . The experimental frame-up involved a birdhouse commute into a tiny home with a undivided window made out of either the semi - transparent wood or regular glass . When placed under a heat lamp , the woodwind version kept the temperature inside 5 to 6 ° degree Celsius ( 9 to 11 ° F ) cooler compare to the field glass interpretation .
They also instal silver nanowires into sure samples , which set aside the wood to guide electricity ; this was in view of potential electronic diligence . Silveris non - biodegradable , so Baruah is investigating materials that could still transmit electricity , but would leave no part behind .
The enquiry was confront atthe leaping meeting of the American Chemical Society(ACS ) in San Diego .
