PMID- 37689764
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20231118
IS  - 2045-2322 (Electronic)
IS  - 2045-2322 (Linking)
VI  - 13
IP  - 1
DP  - 2023 Sep 9
TI  - Transparent wood composite prepared from two commercially important tropical 
      timber species.
PG  - 14915
LID - 10.1038/s41598-023-42242-7 [doi]
LID - 14915
AB  - Transparent wood (TW) has garnered significant global attention due to its unique 
      properties. In this study, TW composites were fabricated using two timber species 
      of different density classes: Ailanthus triphysa (common name: Ailanthus wood) 
      and Hevea brasiliensis (common name: Rubberwood). Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and 
      Hydrogen peroxide-based alkali method was used to modify the lignin in these 
      veneer samples, producing a white cellulose template with a fully intact 
      hierarchical cell structure. Subsequently, a cost-effective thermosetting 
      unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) was infiltrated into the redesigned framework 
      and polymerized to create rigid nanostructured transparent composites. High 
      optical haze (of 94% and 89%) and favourable light transmittance of 59 and 55 
      percent were exhibited by the UPR-TW composites made from rubberwood and 
      ailanthus wood, respectively. TW was characterised using Scanning electron 
      microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The mechanical properties 
      of TW were measured and compared with those of natural wood and pure-polymer. 
      Furthermore, the anisotropic light diffusion behaviour displayed by TW in 
      accordance with the fibre orientation indicates the utility of material as a 
      potential light shaping device. Therefore, a cost-effective and commercially 
      viable strategy to fabricate multipurpose TW composites using a combination of 
      lesser-known timber species (LKTS) and UPR resin was successfully demonstrated.
CI  - (c) 2023. Springer Nature Limited.
FAU - Anish, M C
AU  - Anish MC
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4467-1706
AD  - Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. 
      anish.mc@kau.in.
AD  - Department of Forest Products and Utilization, College of Forestry, Kerala 
      Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India. anish.mc@kau.in.
FAU - Pandey, Krishna K
AU  - Pandey KK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6563-6219
AD  - Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
FAU - Kumar, Rakesh
AU  - Kumar R
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5617-6342
AD  - Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230909
PL  - England
TA  - Sci Rep
JT  - Scientific reports
JID - 101563288
SB  - IM
PMC - PMC10492833
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2023/09/10 00:42
MHDA- 2023/09/10 00:43
PMCR- 2023/09/09
CRDT- 2023/09/09 23:32
PHST- 2023/06/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/09/07 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/09/10 00:43 [medline]
PHST- 2023/09/10 00:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/09/09 23:32 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/09/09 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-023-42242-7 [pii]
AID - 42242 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41598-023-42242-7 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 9;13(1):14915. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42242-7.