“Superwood” is a high-tech material that increases wood’s strength tenfold. The product is backed by the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense.
InventWood, a Maryland-based company, aims to reshape the construction industry with a new material called Superwood. This innovative material mimics the look and warm feel of natural wood, yet it’s stronger than steel and offers enhanced fire and water resistance. It’s also adaptable to extreme weather events driven by climate change.
“Superwood proves the feasibility of combining nature’s most evolved structures with science,” said Alex Lau, CEO of InventWood, in an interview with Interesting Engineering.
On his LinkedIn page, Lau further explained that their process does not involve gluing or mixing wood with synthetic polymers. Instead, scientists restructure the wood at the molecular level and compress it to create ultra-strong hydrogen bonds between cellulose fibers.
The material was first introduced in a 2018 Nature journal publication by Dr. Liangbing Hu, a materials scientist and distinguished professor at the University of Maryland.
The production of Superwood involves two main steps. First, raw wood is boiled in a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulfite (Na₂SO₃)—a chemical process similar to the early stages of paper pulp production.
Next, the treated wood is compressed until its cell structure breaks down, with sustained pressure applied during heating. This heat and pressure encourage strong chemical bonding between hydrogen atoms and neighboring atoms in adjacent cellulose nanofibers, making the material significantly more durable.
The final product is 10 times stronger than natural wood and even bullet-resistant. Its strength-to-weight ratio is also 10 times greater than steel, while its production process reduces carbon emissions by 90%. According to InventWood, replacing 80% of steel used in construction with Superwood could cut over 2 billion tons of CO₂ emissions.
Additionally, the material’s carbon-locking ability throughout a building’s lifecycle turns structures into carbon storage units. Waste wood can also be reused, minimizing environmental impact.
InventWood currently offers Superwood in panel form for use in flooring, wall cladding, and door frames, with plans to introduce high-strength beams in the near future.
After seven years of R&D and 140 patents, the company recently completed a $15 million Series A funding round to launch its first commercial batch in Q3. So far, InventWood has received $50 million in public and private funding, including from the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Grantham Foundation, Builders Vision, JLL Foundation, and Baruch Future Ventures.
The company also completed a nearly 90,000-square-foot production facility in Frederick, Maryland, to support its next growth phase.
Beyond material efficiency and environmental benefits, Superwood presents a sustainable alternative amid policies by the Trump administration to raise tariffs on imported materials like wood, steel, and aluminum to boost domestic production. In a March executive order, the White House stated that the U.S. could supply 95% of its softwood needs domestically. However, the U.S. has run a softwood trade deficit since 2016.
The U.S. military spends $10 billion annually on construction and continues to invest in advanced materials to foster domestic innovation in this sector.
Source VNExpress