Sensitivity to the environment has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. Of course, this was evident in the scientific world as well. Scientists, especially focusing on plastic waste and the destruction of these wastes, continue their research to develop materials to replace plastic in recent years.
One of these materials was ‘transparent boards’. Transparent boards, which have a very low environmental impact as they are renewable and biodegradable, have been brought to the agenda with a new research today.
Transparent boards can replace plastics:
In the study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, scientists announced that transparent boards could replace plastics. According to the research, the material may have the potential to be used in vehicle windows, packaging, biomedical devices and many other products and areas where plastics are used.
On the other hand, this does not mean that the transparent board is not harmful to the environment. According to scientists, transparent wood is still a less environmentally friendly material than glass. However, with the development of technology and the improvement of the material, the damage to the environment in the production of transparent board can be reduced.
Today, methacrylate polymer is generally used to remove lignin from wood in the production of transparent boards. However, in their recent studies, scientists stated that the use of sodium chloride instead of this method and the application of the epoxiing method of the wood can reduce the damage to the environment.
First produced by German scientist Siegfried Fink in 1992 and continuously improved until today, transparent boards have been used in fields such as construction, energy storage, flexible electronics and packaging.