Episode 3: “Water-shocked” wood becomes moldable

In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin's Prachi Patel interviews Liangbing Hu of the University of Maryland on research to mold and shape wood — a low-cost, sustainable material. Beginning with basswood, Hu's laboratory removed some of the lignin and fully dried this hardwood. As the wood dries, the cell walls contract. Wood also has hollow fibers and open channels, called vessels, all of which close up as the material dries. The wood is then shocked with water, leaving it with partially open vessels and closely packed fibers. The cells walls expand rapidly and take on an accordion-like wrinkled structure. These wrinkles, and the space created by the partially open vessels, allow the wood to be compressed and stretched, and the closely packed fibers give it enough strength to bend.