{"id":373,"date":"2025-08-01T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=373"},"modified":"2025-08-01T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T15:07:04","slug":"superwood-is-a-chemically-modified-wood-that-is-stronger-than-steel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/01\/superwood-is-a-chemically-modified-wood-that-is-stronger-than-steel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Superwood is a chemically modified wood that is stronger than steel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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American start-up InventWood claims to have “reinvented wood from the inside out” with a patented process that restructures the material’s molecules to make it ten times stronger than regular wood<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

InventWood<\/a> developed Superwood as a more sustainable, lightweight alternative to concrete and steel in architectural applications.<\/p>\n

The company claims that the material is up to ten times stronger than regular wood and six times lighter than steel, as well as being resistant to water, insects, mould and mildew.<\/p>\n

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InventWood has chemically modified wood to be stronger than steel by weight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Superwood corrects all the flaws you have in wood, but it’s still a wood,” said InventWood CEO Alex Lau in a publicity video about the product.<\/p>\n

“So you still get the benefits of wood but you eliminate most of the drawbacks and you take it to the level of performing like steel.”<\/p>\n

The process used to create Superwood begins with the chemical modification of regular wood, which removes most of its lignin and hemicellulose while preserving the cellulose structure.<\/p>\n

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The resulting Superwood has a four-times higher density than regular wood\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wood is then compressed to squeeze out all of the air and imperfections. This stage causes hydrogen bonds to form between the cellulose fibres, increasing the wood’s density by up to four times.<\/p>\n

InventWood’s COO Allan Bradshaw claims that the material’s main benefit is a strength-to-weight ratio that is up to ten times greater than that of steel.<\/p>\n

“What that does is it allows you to reduce volume so you can get the same strength in a smaller piece,” said Bradshaw. “That allows for much more open space in construction.”<\/p>\n