科学家发明了透明的木头
时间：2018-12-03 作者：英语课 分类：英语科技新闻
英语课
Scientists have come up with a revolutionary new use for wood. They have devised a way to make it transparent 1. This could totally change the way many things in our lives are used and made. See-through wood could one day replace glass and be used in windows and tables, for iPhone screens, and in a whole assortment 2 of other building materials. The innovation has come from researchers at the University of Maryland in the USA. They experimented with different ways to extract the chemicals from wood that give it colour. Researcher Liangbing Hu said: "We were very surprised by how transparent it could go. This can really open applications that can potentially replace glass and some optical materials."
The researchers worked with a small block of linden wood. They boiled it in water, sodium 3 hydroxide and other chemicals for about two hours. A molecule 4 called lignin, which gives wood its colour, disappeared during the boiling process. This left behind colourless cells, which effectively made the wood transparent. The see-through wood is a lot stronger and less dangerous than glass. It is better at insulating against the cold and it is biodegradable. Research is still in its infancy 5 and the process can currently only be done on 10cm by 10cm blocks of wood that range in thickness between paper-thin and a centimeter thick. The researchers will now focus on applying the process on a much larger scale.
The researchers worked with a small block of linden wood. They boiled it in water, sodium 3 hydroxide and other chemicals for about two hours. A molecule 4 called lignin, which gives wood its colour, disappeared during the boiling process. This left behind colourless cells, which effectively made the wood transparent. The see-through wood is a lot stronger and less dangerous than glass. It is better at insulating against the cold and it is biodegradable. Research is still in its infancy 5 and the process can currently only be done on 10cm by 10cm blocks of wood that range in thickness between paper-thin and a centimeter thick. The researchers will now focus on applying the process on a much larger scale.
1 transparent
adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的
- The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
- The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
2 assortment
n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集
- This shop has a good assortment of goods to choose from.该店各色货物俱全，任君选择。
- She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes.她穿着奇装异服。
3 sodium
n.（化）钠
- Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
- Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。