It can make soft woods over 10 times as strong. Scientists at the University of Maryland have, through chemical treatments and crushed polymers, found a way to make soft woods over 10 times as strong as their natural form. They’re calling it “super wood.” Lightweight woods, like pine or balsa, already have a number of common uses in woodworking but they’re just not fit for applications in industrial strength projects. The research team is hopeful that their chemical treatments could change that. “This new way to treat wood makes it twelve times stronger than natural wood and ten times tougher,” says Liangbing Hu, leader of the research team which published their findings in Nature, in a press statement.
Read more at: New Chemical Treatment Makes ‘Super Wood’ That Could Replace Steel
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