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Wood Pulp Extract Stronger Than Carbon Fiber Or Kevlar
Zothecula writes "The Forest Products Laboratory of the US Forest Service has opened a US$1.7 million pilot plant for the production of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) from wood by-products materials such as wood chips and sawdust. Prepared properly, CNCs are stronger and stiffer than Kevlar or carbon fibers, so that putting CNC into composite materials results in high strength, low weight products. In addition, the cost of CNCs is less than ten percent of the cost of Kevlar fiber or carbon fiber. These qualities have attracted the interest of the military for use in lightweight armor and ballistic glass (CNCs are transparent), as well as companies in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, consumer products, and medical industries."
It would be nice to know how strong it is in compression as well as under tension.
Those figures for Carbon fibre are bollocks BTW. Elastic Modulus varies from a third to five times that depending on how it's made. My gut tells me Elastic Modulus ought to be in MPa rather than GPa. Could be wrong but Wikipedia will know the truth of it....
Trust The Computer, The Computer is your friend.
No, this is not an excuse to cut down trees. Its an excuse to grow more, and cut down on the amount of waste that is discarded from what wood products we use. TFS even stated that CNC is made from 'wood chips and sawdust' which was, until this product was discovered, a trash byproduct of the lumber industry.
I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
They traded the formula for transparent aluminum for Plexiglas. It's less dense than aluminum, allowed the crew some capacity to actually monitor the whales directly (the Klingon vessel's internal sensors may have been limited or too unfamiliar), and most importantly allowed movie watchers to see the whales.
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.