Stronger Than Wood, Lighter Than Steel: Superwood!

Less than a decade after being invented at the University of Maryland, the United States, a “superwood” that is not only stronger than traditional wood but also stronger and lighter than steel will soon be in large-scale production, offering the public a greener and safer material.

According to startup company InventWood’s owner Liangbing Hu, the materials scientist who invented Superwood back in 2018, its innovative product could replace up to 80% of steel used worldwide and cut 2 gigatons of CO₂ emissions in the process.

To make Superwood ten times stronger than steel, scientists must remove just enough of the polymer called lignin from regular wood so that cellulose fibers can still bond. The processed wood is then compressed at 66° Celsius, ensuring that the cellular structure collapses. Consequently, the wood is thinner than it was originally, but significantly stronger. By compressing and removing the wood’s natural weaknesses, Superwood is resistant to rot, termites, moisture, fungi, and fire. Superwood has 50% more tensile strength than steel, low expansion and contraction, and a Class A fire rating, meaning that it is more likely to survive a fire than most other construction materials on Earth. To that end, InventWood landed $15 million in Series A funding to build its first factory.