Path to transparent wood: Test on delignification rate of red and white meranti and reactivity of epoxy resin / Adzri Shah Faizal

• Main Author: Faizal, Adzri Shah
• Format: Student Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Optics. Light; Spectroscopy; Illumination. Lighting
• Online Access: https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/41695/1/41695.PDF; https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/41695/

Transparent wood is considered to be a new invention even though the idea was from 1992. Transparent wood is wood that allow light to pass through. This is opposed to the nature of wood structure which is normally not transparent and has solid structure that block the path of light. In this project only path to transparent wood studied; i) suitable time for delignification and ii) rate of reactivity of epoxy. The experiment was done by using two types of wood species (red meranti & white meranti) in veneer form with thickness of 1.5mm. The time tested for delignification process was 0 h, 3 h, 6 h, 9 h and 12 h. It was found that 9 hours is adequate to be use in delignification of wood. For all delignified sample, transparency was evident. Test on with 9 ratios of epoxy reactivity (hardener: resin) at 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7 1:8 and 1:9 was done. The result show that ratios between 1:6 and 1:8 are suitable curing time the epoxy for impregnation of wood where the time required which is between 18 to 24 h.