http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/archi...rchitecture0701AMStoryGalLink&linkId=28028163
Invisible Wood
Dr. Liangbing Hu of the University's Department of Material Science and Engineering describes it -- is sturdier than traditional wood, and can be used in place of less environmentally friendly materials, such as plastics.
Stronger than steel
The material offers large-scale possibilities for architects and engineers, looking for greener building materials.
"Potentially, the wood could be made to match or even exceed the strength of steel per weight, with the added benefit that the wood would be lighter in weight," explains Hu.
The advantages of 'see-through' wood
The study also reveals that transparent wood composites exhibit high transmittance qualities or a "high optical haze" that could be potentially used in solar cells, which convert the sun's energy into electricity.
"If you place the transparent wood in front of a solar cell, the amount of light absorbed will be higher, and efficiency can increase up to 30%," says Hu, of the material's advanced ability to control and trap how light enters.
Basically the invisible wood could have a layer of aluminum formed around it allowing for much greater strength while still remaining lighter than steel that could be used for structural members of rockets and the hull of the rocket itself.
A lighter rocket means that more payload can be hauled into space while using less fuel.
The photostatic capabilities would allow the rocket hull itself to be used to harvest electrical power from the sun while it sat ready on the launch pad as well as the hull of any satellite, cargo pod or human pod harvesting solar power to generate electricity for their operational systems without adding bulky and fuel restrictive harvesting systems that would need to be deployed.
