Luminescent transparent wood from a woody cellulosic template treated with an optical brightener

Abstract

Transparent wood (TW) has attracted tremendous research interest due to its numerous adaptive features and applications as a sustainable material. The present study unveils a novel and simple method of preparing luminescent transparent wood (LTW) with good optical properties and UV-blocking nature. LTW was prepared by pre-treatment of lignin-modified wood (LMW) with a commercial fabric brightener/optical brightener (Ranipal ® ) prior to polymer infiltration. The resultant LTW showed unique bluish photoluminescence upon UV light irradiation. Under normal light illumination, the LTW exhibited a brilliant bright/white appearance compared to untreated TW samples. LTW fabricated using 1 mm thick silver oak wood veneer exhibited high transparency (82%) and high haze (90%) with enhanced UV blocking property. The novel LTW fabrication method using a readily available and low-cost fabric brightener has significantly reduced the overall process complexity of LTW preparation. The treatment with optical brightener had no adverse effect on the material quality. The fabricated LTW with good optical features can be an excellent bio-based input material to the multifunctional smart material category.