The new Innovative Materials (volume 6) has just been released
12 A wooden chair could arrive flat, then dry into a 3D shape
Wooden objects are usually made by sawing, carving, bending or pressing. That might change. Scientists have developed a method by which flat wooden shapes extruded by a 3D printer can be programmed to transform themselves into complex 3D shapes at any time. In the future, this technique could be used to make furniture or other wooden products that could be shipped flat to a destination and then dried to form the desired final shape.
The researchers presented their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), held on August 21 – 25.
14 Transparant bamboo
The pressure on energy consumption and non-reusable raw materials is an incentive for scientists to develop new environmentally friendly and energy-saving materials. Like transparent bamboo. Wood, for instance, has come more popular during the last years as an environmentally friendly, reusable construction material. Scientists have now also developed transparent wood. It is made by extracting lignin and then impregnating it with a transparent resin. The resulting material is not only transparent, but also strong and has excellent mechanical and thermal properties. Wood resembles bamboo in structure; so why not transparent bamboo? Earlier this year, Chinese scientists gave an overview of the possibilities of this new transparent bamboo composite (TBC) material in the Journal of Polymers.
20 From CO2 to stone:
Permanent mineralization of carbon dioxide
Trees and vegetation are not the only form of carbon absorption from the atmosphere. Large amounts of carbon are naturally stored in rocks. Geothermal company Carbfix from Icelandic Kópavogur has developed a process that CO2 permanently mineralizes in rock, mimicking and accelerating this natural process. At the geothermal power plant in Hellisheiði, Iceland, the underground injection of CO2 from Switzerland started in early November.
24 Dutch Design Week 2022
Every year in October, the Dutch Design Week (DDW) takes place in Eindhoven. Northern Europe’s largest design event presented the work of designers between 16 and 24 October, spread over more than a hundred locations in the city. And again this year, attention has been be paid to material innovations, 3D-printed materials and objects, biomaterials and, above all, a lot of circularity.
30 Rainwater retention panel: Rain storage in façade tiles
Climate change for Europe means brings a different weather type with dry summers with sporadic cloudburst. It is these torrents of rainwater that cause overflowing sewers and damage to homes and infrastructure. Tjeerd Veenhoven invented a ceramic facade panel that collects excess rainwater in the cavity of buildings. This should also provide cooling for the immediate environment and counteract heat stress in the summer. The concept, developed as a result of the Sweco design competition, was presented during Dutch Design Week 2022.
