“The results are amazing, that a piece of wood can be as strong as glass,” says Hu, who highlighted the features of transparent wood in the 2023 Annual Review of Materials Research.

So, they used their transparent wood to replace a glass window in a birdhouse. Under a heat lamp, the interior stayed nine to 11 degrees cooler than when it had a glass window.

Transparent wood promises to be an environmentally friendly substitute for glass or plastic used for making car windshields, see-through packaging and biomedical devices, according to a study.

Transparent wood could soon find uses in super-strong screens for smartphones; in soft, glowing light fixtures; and even as structural features, such as color-changing windows.

Lots of glass surfaces can brighten up a room, but it also lets in too much heat as well as neighbors’ prying eyes. A new metamaterial is not only more transparent to light, but adds privacy ...

A recent study published in Nature Communications discussed the development of host-guest molecular recognition motifs between methyl-β-cyclodextrin and para-hydroxybenzoic acid for fabricating ...