Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material

Shaoliang Xiao; Chaoji Chen; QQ Xia; Yu Liu; Y Yao; QY Chen; M Hartsfield; A Brozena; KK Tu; SJ Eichhorn; Y Yao; JG Li; WT Gan; SQ Shi; VW Yang; M Lo Ricco; JY Zhu; I Burgert; A Luo; T Li; LB Hu

doi:10.1126/science.abg9556

Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material

Shaoliang Xiao, Chaoji Chen, QQ Xia, Yu Liu, Y Yao, QY Chen, M Hartsfield, A Brozena, KK Tu, SJ Eichhorn, Y Yao, JG Li, WT Gan, SQ Shi, VW Yang, M Lo Ricco, JY Zhu, I Burgert, A Luo, T LiLB Hu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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Abstract

Wood is a sustainable structural material, but it cannot be easily shaped while maintaining its mechanical properties. We report a processing strategy that uses cell wall engineering to shape flat sheets of hardwood into versatile three-dimensional (3D) structures. After breaking down wood's lignin component and closing the vessels and fibers by evaporating water, we partially re-swell the wood in a rapid water-shock process that selectively opens the vessels. This forms a distinct wrinkled cell wall structure that allows the material to be folded and molded into desired shapes. The resulting 3D-molded wood is six times stronger than the starting wood and comparable to widely used lightweight materials such as aluminum alloys. This approach widens wood's potential as a structural material, with lower environmental impact for buildings and transportation applications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	465-471
Number of pages	7
Journal	Science
Volume	374
Issue number	6566
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg9556
Publication status	Published - 21 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The information, data, or work presented herein was funded in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency?Energy (ARPA?E), US Department of Energy, under award DE?AR0001025. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. L.H. also acknowledges support from the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering. We acknowledge the support of the Maryland Nanocenter, its Surface Analysis Center, and AIMLab.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

Keywords

HIGH-STRENGTH
CELLULOSE
POLYMERIZATION
COMPOSITES

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Xiao, S., Chen, C., Xia, QQ., Liu, Y., Yao, Y., Chen, QY., Hartsfield, M., Brozena, A., Tu, KK., Eichhorn, SJ., Yao, Y., Li, JG., Gan, WT., Shi, SQ., Yang, VW., Lo Ricco, M., Zhu, JY., Burgert, I., Luo, A., ... Hu, LB. (2021). Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material. Science, 374(6566), 465-471. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg9556

@article{42254c729df64b0fb7ce2f1da2ea48ff,

title = "Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material",

abstract = "Wood is a sustainable structural material, but it cannot be easily shaped while maintaining its mechanical properties. We report a processing strategy that uses cell wall engineering to shape flat sheets of hardwood into versatile three-dimensional (3D) structures. After breaking down wood's lignin component and closing the vessels and fibers by evaporating water, we partially re-swell the wood in a rapid water-shock process that selectively opens the vessels. This forms a distinct wrinkled cell wall structure that allows the material to be folded and molded into desired shapes. The resulting 3D-molded wood is six times stronger than the starting wood and comparable to widely used lightweight materials such as aluminum alloys. This approach widens wood's potential as a structural material, with lower environmental impact for buildings and transportation applications.",

keywords = "HIGH-STRENGTH, CELLULOSE, POLYMERIZATION, COMPOSITES",

author = "Shaoliang Xiao and Chaoji Chen and QQ Xia and Yu Liu and Y Yao and QY Chen and M Hartsfield and A Brozena and KK Tu and SJ Eichhorn and Y Yao and JG Li and WT Gan and SQ Shi and VW Yang and {Lo Ricco}, M and JY Zhu and I Burgert and A Luo and T Li and LB Hu",

note = "Funding Information: The information, data, or work presented herein was funded in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency?Energy (ARPA?E), US Department of Energy, under award DE?AR0001025. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. L.H. also acknowledges support from the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering. We acknowledge the support of the Maryland Nanocenter, its Surface Analysis Center, and AIMLab. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1126/science.abg9556",

language = "English",

volume = "374",

pages = "465--471",

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Xiao, S, Chen, C, Xia, QQ, Liu, Y, Yao, Y, Chen, QY, Hartsfield, M, Brozena, A, Tu, KK, Eichhorn, SJ, Yao, Y, Li, JG, Gan, WT, Shi, SQ, Yang, VW, Lo Ricco, M, Zhu, JY, Burgert, I, Luo, A, Li, T & Hu, LB 2021, 'Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material', Science, vol. 374, no. 6566, pp. 465-471. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg9556

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material

AU - Xiao, Shaoliang

AU - Chen, Chaoji

AU - Xia, QQ

AU - Liu, Yu

AU - Yao, Y

AU - Chen, QY

AU - Hartsfield, M

AU - Brozena, A

AU - Tu, KK

AU - Eichhorn, SJ

AU - Yao, Y

AU - Li, JG

AU - Gan, WT

AU - Shi, SQ

AU - Yang, VW

AU - Lo Ricco, M

AU - Zhu, JY

AU - Burgert, I

AU - Luo, A

AU - Li, T

AU - Hu, LB

N1 - Funding Information: The information, data, or work presented herein was funded in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency?Energy (ARPA?E), US Department of Energy, under award DE?AR0001025. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. L.H. also acknowledges support from the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering. We acknowledge the support of the Maryland Nanocenter, its Surface Analysis Center, and AIMLab. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/10/21

Y1 - 2021/10/21

N2 - Wood is a sustainable structural material, but it cannot be easily shaped while maintaining its mechanical properties. We report a processing strategy that uses cell wall engineering to shape flat sheets of hardwood into versatile three-dimensional (3D) structures. After breaking down wood's lignin component and closing the vessels and fibers by evaporating water, we partially re-swell the wood in a rapid water-shock process that selectively opens the vessels. This forms a distinct wrinkled cell wall structure that allows the material to be folded and molded into desired shapes. The resulting 3D-molded wood is six times stronger than the starting wood and comparable to widely used lightweight materials such as aluminum alloys. This approach widens wood's potential as a structural material, with lower environmental impact for buildings and transportation applications.

AB - Wood is a sustainable structural material, but it cannot be easily shaped while maintaining its mechanical properties. We report a processing strategy that uses cell wall engineering to shape flat sheets of hardwood into versatile three-dimensional (3D) structures. After breaking down wood's lignin component and closing the vessels and fibers by evaporating water, we partially re-swell the wood in a rapid water-shock process that selectively opens the vessels. This forms a distinct wrinkled cell wall structure that allows the material to be folded and molded into desired shapes. The resulting 3D-molded wood is six times stronger than the starting wood and comparable to widely used lightweight materials such as aluminum alloys. This approach widens wood's potential as a structural material, with lower environmental impact for buildings and transportation applications.

KW - HIGH-STRENGTH

KW - CELLULOSE

KW - POLYMERIZATION

KW - COMPOSITES

U2 - 10.1126/science.abg9556

DO - 10.1126/science.abg9556

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 34672741

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 374

SP - 465

EP - 471

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6566

ER -

Lightweight, strong, moldable wood via cell wall engineering as a sustainable structural material

Abstract

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Keywords

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