Purpose of review

Transparent wood (TW) has attracted much interest from researchers as an emerging optical load-bearing material because of its advanced characteristics. These advantages mainly include being renewable, existing abundant reserves, low cost, interesting optical properties, outstanding mechanical performance, and low thermal conductivity. This review summarizes the current research activities that center on the development of transparent wood.

Recent findings

This review first addresses wood structural features and chemical composition. The effects of lignin removal, wood species, and resin types on the properties of transparent wood have been explored by researchers. Moreover, many studies highlight the properties of transparent wood, including optical and thermal properties and mechanical performance. An increasing number of studies have focused on the preparation of functional transparent wood and its commercial application.

Summary

We summarize transparent wood research processes and perspectives on several issues that need further exploration. Lignin removal is one of the most important factors in the processing of transparent wood. Thus, more efficient and greener methods need to be developed to achieve lignin removal or modification to suit the requirements of high-performance transparent wood. The main research objectives would be new functional properties such as electromagnetic shielding, intelligent photoelectric response, high hardness, and electrical conductivity of transparent wood.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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透明木材的新兴发展：材料、特性和应用

审查目的

透明木材（TW）作为一种新兴的光学承重材料因其先进的特性而引起了研究人员的广泛兴趣。这些优点主要包括可再生性、现有储量丰富、成本低、光学性能有趣、机械性能突出、导热系数低等。这篇综述总结了当前以透明木材开发为中心的研究活动。

最近的发现

本综述首先讨论木材的结构特征和化学成分。研究人员已经探索了木质素去除、木材种类和树脂类型对透明木材性能的影响。此外，许多研究强调了透明木材的性能，包括光学和热性能以及机械性能。越来越多的研究集中在功能性透明木材的制备及其商业应用上。

概括

我们总结了透明木材的研究过程以及对需要进一步探索的几个问题的观点。木质素去除是透明木材加工中最重要的因素之一。因此，需要开发更高效、更环保的方法来实现木质素去除或改性，以满足高性能透明木材的要求。主要研究目标是透明木材的电磁屏蔽、智能光电响应、高硬度、导电性等新功能特性。

图形概要