Fire-resistant transparent bamboo can be a 'rival' of glass

With its fast growth rate and high output, bamboo can be processed into transparency and become an effective building material to replace glass.

Chinese scientists turned bamboo into a transparent material that is fireproof, waterproof, and smokeproof, and can become a competitor to glass, New Atlas reported on May 15. New research published in the journal Research.

Silica glass made from sand is a reasonable construction material when a transparent yet sturdy structure such as a window is needed. However, it can be heavy and fragile, and doesn't offer much durability.

Scientists have developed transparent bamboo that is water and fire resistant. (Photo: Depositphotos)

Transparent wood actually appeared a few years ago. Scientists chemically remove lignin from wood fibers, then treat the material with acrylic or epoxy resin. The end product is a transparent, renewable material that is as strong or stronger than glass, while also being lighter and more insulating.

However, wood also has some problems such as being more flammable than glass, supply is not enough to meet demand, and additional production time is very long. In the new study, the team from Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT), China, turned to bamboo.

"Bamboo has a fast growth and regeneration rate, so it can mature and be exploited as a construction material in 4-7 years of development. With a yield 4 times higher than wood per acre (1 acre is equivalent to equivalent to about 4,000 m2), bamboo is recognized for its outstanding performance ," said Caichao Wan, a member of the research team.

Because bamboo's internal structure and chemical composition are very similar to wood, the team used a similar method to make them transparent. After removing the lignin, the bamboo is soaked with inorganic liquid sodium silicate, which changes the light refraction of the fibers and turns the bamboo transparent. Then, the bamboo is treated to make it waterproof.

The final material consists of three layers : Silane on top, silicon dioxide in the middle and sodium silicate below. Transparent bamboo with 71.6% light transmittance, is fireproof, waterproof, smoke and carbon monoxide resistant.

In addition to being used as a construction material, transparent bamboo can also serve as a substrate for perovskite solar cells , which act as a light-control layer. This helps increase the battery's energy conversion efficiency by 15.29%. "In our next research, we will focus on large-scale production and multifunctionalization of this transparent bamboo ," Wan said.