This Scientist Develops A Wooden-Based Smartphone Screen Panel

Screen panel made of wood (doc. USDA (US Department of Agriculture))

JAKARTA - At a time when most cellphone vendors are competing to create flexible glass materials for folding screens. A scientist named Junyong Zhu from the Forest Products Laboratory actually developed a transparent wood-coated panel that can be used for cellphone screens.

Citing Phone Arena, Tuesday 6 October, this research has been published on the official website of the USDA (US Department of Agriculture). Zhu is not alone, along with colleagues from the University of Maryland and the University of Colorado they use balsa wood as a base material.

To make it nearly transparent, balsa wood is treated with a room temperature oxidizing bath. Next, the wood is filled with a synthetic polymer called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), resulting in a transparent wood like glass.

This transparent wood has very interesting characteristics. It is also claimed to be more durable and lighter than ordinary glass. This new material can withstand impacts much stronger than glass. And most importantly, it is very cheap to mass produce.

According to reports, the transparent wood is considered to be five times more thermally efficient, durable, and lighter than glass. In the presence of natural cellulose, when combined with PVA polymer, it is said that the transparent wood can be bent.

In addition, this material is not like glass, which when dropped and shattered. However, transparent wood will tear into small pieces in the shape of spicules if it breaks.

Others, while glassmaking requires more energy, carbon footprint and emissions of up to 25,000 metric tons per year, the development of transparent wood can help reduce this in the future.

This new innovation is expected to be used by the electronic and automotive display technology industry. Therefore, this transparent material may also appear on the cellphone screen.