Transparent wood (TW) is a sustainable composite material with high optical transmittance and excellent mechanical properties. Nanoparticles, dyes and quantum dots can be added in a controlled manner for new functionalities relying on the light scattering properties of the composite. The scattering properties of 3D TW models of cellular microstructure are investigated numerically using geometrical optics. A group of 3D TW material models with controlled microstructural parameters are generated based on an analytical method. A ray tracing approach is adopted to model scattering in these complex materials. Effects from different material parameters on ray scattering are analyzed. A virtual camera or virtual eye to render images positioned behind a TW plate is simulated using backward ray tracing. The blurred impression in human eyes of real objects viewed through a TW “window” can then be mimicked.

Cracks oriented in the toughest direction across the grain of wood (0°) tend to deflect at 90° to the precrack rather than extending in 0° direction. Fracture toughness data across the grain are therefore difficult to interpret. Crack growth mechanisms and effects from replacing wood pore space with a polymer are investigated. Crack growth is analyzed in four-point bending fracture mechanics specimens of birch and two different polymer-filled birch composites using strain-field measurements and finite element analysis (FEA). Calibrated cohesive zone models in both precrack and 90°-directions describe fracture process zone properties in orthotropic FEA-models. Conditions for 0° crack penetration versus 90° crack deflection are analyzed based on cohesive zone properties. Stable, subcritical crack deflection takes place at low load, reduces crack tip stress concentration, and contributes to high structural toughness, provided the 90° toughness is not too low. Polymer-filled neat birch composites have the best structural toughness properties in the present investigation, since 90° toughness is not compromised by any chemical treatment.

Porous cellular foams, combining lightweight, high strength, and compressibility, hold great promise in a wide range of advanced applications. Here, the native structure of pine wood was modified by in-situ lignin sulfonation and unidirectional freezing, resulting in an alveolate structure inside the wood cell wall with arrays of sub-100 nm channels. The obtained wood foam exhibited highly enhanced permeability while retaining the native cellular arrangement and high lignin and hemicellulose content. Such engineered cellular foam contributed to superior mechanical performance with compressive strength of 9 MPa and Young's modulus of 344 MPa in the longitudinal direction. The high porosity allowed homogeneous infiltration of conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS inside the wood cell wall. The resulting composite exhibited high conductivity, sponge-like compressibility and the ability to modulate electrical resistance in a reversible manner in the radial direction. This rationally designed conductive wood demonstrated potential in durable and ultrasensitive pressure-responsive devices and strain sensors.

Increased use of multi-phase, wood-based biocomposites may contribute to sustainable development. The porous microstructure offers unique possibilities for modification, but global properties are often predicted based on simplified unit cells and homogenization. For materials design, simulations based on complex 3D microstructures with statistical variability are alternatives to better understanding physical properties. Parametric models are developed in a distortion-map-based method to represent 3D wood microstructures. Basic structures of uniform tubular cells and other features are generated followed by distortion mapping. These maps are highly adaptable and can generate realistic features and variability. Fibers, vessels, and ray cells are realistically distributed. The models are realistic, versatile, and scalable, as well as can be used to simulate the mechanical, optical, and hydrodynamic properties of complex composites. The model is promising for generating large sets of data to train deep learning networks for multi-physics research.

Nature has evolved elegant ways to alter the wood cell wall structure through carbohydrate-active enzymes, offering environmentally friendly solutions to tailor the microstructure of wood for high-performance materials. In this work, the cell wall structure of delignified wood is modified under mild reaction conditions using an oxidative enzyme, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO). LPMO oxidation results in nanofibrillation of cellulose microfibril bundles inside the wood cell wall, allowing densification of delignified wood under ambient conditions and low pressure into transparent anisotropic films. The enzymatic nanofibrillation facilitates microfibril fusion and enhances the adhesion between the adjacent wood fiber cells during densification process, thereby significantly improving the mechanical performance of the films in both longitudinal and transverse directions. These results improve the understanding of LPMO-induced microstructural changes in wood and offer an environmentally friendly alternative for harsh chemical treatments and energy-intensive densification processes thus representing a significant advance in sustainable production of high-performance wood-derived materials.

Transparent wood composites (TWs) offer the possibility of unique coloration effects. A colored transparent wood composite (C-TW) with enhanced fire retardancy was impregnated by metal ion solutions, followed by methyl methacrylate (MMA) impregnation and polymerization. Bleached birch wood with a preserved hierarchical structure acted as a host for metal ions. Cobalt, nickel, copper, and iron metal salts were used. The location and distribution of metal ions in C-TW as well as the mechanical performance, optical properties, and fire retardancy were investigated. The C-TW coloration is tunable by controlling the metal ion species and concentration. The metal ions reduced heat release rates and limited the production of smoke during forced combustion tests. The potential for scaled-up production was verified by fabricating samples with a dimension of 180 x 100 x 1 (l x b x h) mm(3).

Silk fibroin, a widely used natural biopolymer, presents remarkable flexibility and biodegradability, making it of great interest as a polymer matrix for functional composite materials. Herein, composites of silk nanofibrils and metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets were successfully fabricated by a coincubation and coassembly process. Under heat incubation, silk fibroin self-assembled into one-dimensional nanofibrils, while MOF nanosheets simultaneously covered or wrapped on the silk nanofibrils in a water suspension. Transparent composite membranes were obtained from their water suspensions by the solution casting method. The regenerated silk nanofibrils formed a network structure, and the integrated MOF nanosheets (0.1 to 3.0 wt %) endowed the composites with aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen)-based fluorescence. The fluorescence intensity of the composites was significantly enhanced owing to the interfacial interactions between silk nanofibrils and MOF nanosheets. The composite membranes also offer excellent UV shielding while maintaining optical transparency in the visible spectrum. This work provides an efficient pathway to fabricate luminescent silk protein-based composites for functional materials such as fluorescence sensing and anticounterfeiting.

TW transparent wood/polymer biocomposite laminates are of interest as multifunctional materials with good longitudinal modulus, tensile strength and optical transmittance. The effect of filling the pore space in wood with a polymer matrix on fracture toughness and crack growth is not well understood. Here, we carried out in-situ fracture tests on neat birch wood and laminates made of four layers of delignified birch veneers impregnated with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and investigated crack growth in the tangential-radial (TR) fracture system. Fracture toughness KIc and JIc at crack initiation were estimated, including FEM analysis. SEM microscopy revealed that cracks primarily propagate along the ray cells, but cell wall peeling and separation between the PMMA and wood phases also take place. A combination of in-situ tests and strain field measured by digital image correlation (DIC) showed twice as long fracture process zone of TW laminates compared with neat birch.

Polarized THz time domain spectroscopy was used to study the anisotropic properties of wood-based materials for potential optical elements in the THz range, such as half-wave and quarter-wave plates. Wood samples of different species and sample thickness were studied experimentally showing high birefringence but rather high absorption. We elaborate on two approaches to optimize the optical properties for use as wave plates and assess them based on a figure of merit describing their efficiency as a function of birefringence and absorption. The first approach is to dry the wood samples, which significantly improves the efficiency of wave plates. The second approach is the use of artificially produced cellulose samples using 3D printing and freeze drying techniques, which also show birefringence caused by their similar macroscopic cellulose fibre structure. These materials have the potential as cost effective THz elements that are easy to tailor and produce for use at specific frequencies.

The nature of mass transport in plants has recently inspired the development of low-cost and sustainable wood-based electronics. Herein, we report a wood electrochemical transistor (WECT) where all three electrodes are fully made of conductive wood (CW). The CW is prepared using a two-step strategy of wood delignification followed by wood amalgamation with a mixed electron-ion conducting polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)–polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The modified wood has an electrical conductivity of up to 69 Sm−1 induced by the formation of PEDOT:PSS microstructures inside the wood 3D scaffold. CW is then used to fabricate the WECT, which is capable of modulating an electrical current in a porous and thick transistor channel (1 mm) with an on/off ratio of 50. The device shows a good response to gate voltage modulation and exhibits dynamic switching properties similar to those of an organic electrochemical transistor. This wood-based device and the proposed working principle demonstrate the possibility to incorporate active electronic functionality into the wood, suggesting different types of bio-based electronic devices.