Superwood
Superwood is an engineered wood discovered by Liangbing Hu at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2018. The Superwood is created by removing the lignin from natural wood using a chemical process, followed by 150°F hot-pressing the remaining cellulose structure, making it 5 times thinner. Hu has started a company InventWood in Maryland to try and make Superwood a commercially viable product that will start sales in the summer of 2025. Superwood could make faster growing softwoods a more viable building material over slower growing hardwoods, while being more environmentally friendly. The material could transform industries such as automotive, airplanes, building materials, furniture, and any industry where steel is used now. [1][2][3]
Advantages
- Strength-to-weight ratio 10x stronger than steel
- Higher toughness 10x than the original wood
- Fire-resistant
- Moisture resistant
- Termite resistant
- Fungus resistant
- Decomposition resistant
- Better compression and bending strength
- Tensile strength 50% greater than steel[4]
See also
- Wood preservation
- List of woods
- Ascent MKE - mass timber hybrid high-rise apartment building in Milwaukee
- Janka hardness test
- Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer
- Titanium alloys
- Computational materials science
- Nanocellulose
External links
- Transparent wood - discovered by Hu in 2016 that is stronger than glass and better insulating, and could be an alturnative to plastics.[5]
References
- ↑ "'Superwood' that's 50% stronger than steel is coming this year".
- ↑ Aiello, Chloe (14 May 2025). "This Startup Invented Wood That's Stronger Than Steel. Here's How". Inc.
- ↑ "What is 'Super Wood'? New material strong as steel nears mass production". Newsweek. 14 May 2025.
- ↑ Diaz, Jesus (16 May 2025). "This 'Superwood' is stronger than steel. It's coming to a building near you". Fast Company.
- ↑ "Scientists Say New "Transparent Wood" Could Replace Plastic".
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