Ultraviolet-Assisted Modified Delignified Wood with High Transparency

The substrate of solar cells with high haze, transparent, flexible, green and low coatings will be needed in the future. This paper reports a method for ultraviolet-assisted delignification of wood in an alkaline solution environment to improve the transmittance of “transparent wood”. Scanning elect...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaoli Chen, Shangjie Ge-Zhang, Yu Han, Hong Yang, Wenao Ou-Yang, Haotong Zhu, Junyi Hao, Jinxin Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-07-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/15/7406
Description
Summary:The substrate of solar cells with high haze, transparent, flexible, green and low coatings will be needed in the future. This paper reports a method for ultraviolet-assisted delignification of wood in an alkaline solution environment to improve the transmittance of “transparent wood”. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction image (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and transmittance-haze and chemical composition analysis were used to explore the mechanisms underlying the effect of ultraviolet-assisted lignin modification on the optical properties of “transparent wood”. The results show that UV-assisted delignification accelerates the rate of removal of lignin and chromogenic groups, which in turn improves the optical properties of the “transparent wood”, with UV-assisted lignin modification for 2 h increasing the light transmission of the “transparent wood” by 20%. UV-assisted delignification for 4 h and impregnation resulted in “transparent wood” with a transparency of 71% and a haze of 90%. This report provides a rapid and easy method to prepare high-quality “transparent wood”. The “transparent wood” with high transmittance and high haze is a potential candidate for transparent solar substrates. Meanwhile, this method is enlightening for high quality, fast and green preparation of other derived functional materials based on lignin wood.
ISSN:2076-3417