Scientists have developed a new type of ‘super board‘ that is 10 times stronger and harder than normal board. Because this innovation is more natural and cost-free, it has the potential to replace steel and other materials like it. And it can stop bullets!
The secret of the special power of this new species is hidden in the chemical processes after the hot pressurization process. The resulting chemical bonds make the board strong enough to one day be used in buildings and vehicles.
It can even be used in armor plating. The researchers opened fire on this new superboard and found that instead of opening their path by smashing, as bullets do with ordinary boards, they were stuck in the matter.
“New operations applied on the board make it 12 times stronger and 10 times harder than a standard board."it's not the same," said Lianbing Hu, a senior researcher at the University of Maryland. It can rival steel and even titanium alloys, it is very strong and durable. It's also comparable to carbon fiber, but much cheaper.
Teng Li of the same team: "it is both strong and hard, which is hardly found in nature., ” he adds. As strong as steel, but six times lighter. It requires 10 times more energy than normal wood to crack. At the beginning of the process, it can stretch and bend.
The new process used has two steps: first, the board is boiled in a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite, similar to the construction of pulp.
It is then subjected to a pressurization process to break down the walls between the cells, during which heat is given to form new chemical bonds.
These processes, on the one hand, hold the polymers needed for the hardness of the board, and on the other hand, allow the removal of certain polymers to be a new formation.
The hardness of the board ultimately comes from large numbers of hydrogen atoms, bound by the nano fibers of cellulose, which are naturally present in their structure.
Chemical reactions are a little complicated; the process itself is actually simple and quite costly. Because wood literally grows on wood; this is promising to replace steel, titanium alloys and other substances.
The process applied has been shown to work in other types of board.
The completed Super board is as strong, tough and lightweight as we mentioned before; it's also impressively dense, resistant to printing, scratching and even moisture.
In addition to being suitable for use in the production of air vehicles and cars, it can also be used for furniture. There seems to be a lot of work to be done until you see a jumbo jet made of wood, of course.
The next step, which scientists say should not be a problem, is to increase and speed up the production process.
“It is particularly exciting to note that the method can be used in many different types of board, and its sanction is quite simple."he quotes Huajian Gao, an engineer at Brown University who was not involved in the research.
“Printed paper has the potential to receive muraacat in a wide area where high strength, hardness and superior ballistic resistance are desired. It has great promise to design light and high-quality organic matter.“