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A U.S. startup has created a new kind of wood that’s up to ten times stronger than steel and six times lighter.
Called Superwood, the material is made by InventWood, co-founded by materials scientist Dr. Liangbing Hu, now a professor at Yale. By chemically treating and compressing natural wood, Hu’s team managed to collapse its cellular structure, creating a dense, ultra-tough material that outperforms most metals.
“It looks and behaves like wood,” said InventWood CEO Alex Lau, “but it’s stronger, fire-resistant, and nearly indestructible.”
Superwood is also more eco-friendly than steel, with up to 90% fewer carbon emissions during production. It’s resistant to dents, insects, and fungi and can even outperform metals in strength-to-weight tests.
The company has already begun production in Maryland, with plans to expand internationally. Experts say it could revolutionize sustainable construction in Europe, where timber architecture is on the rise, from Scandinavia to Mediterranean regions like Cyprus, where lighter, earthquake-resistant structures are increasingly valued.
“If adopted widely, stronger timber like Superwood could help Europe build greener, faster, and smarter,” one researcher said.
Tomorrow’s buildings, it seems, might not be made of steel or concrete but of wood, reborn for the modern age.
