Making Transparent Wood

Рет қаралды 323,641

3 жыл бұрын

Offset your carbon footprint with me on Wren! We'll protect 5 extra acres of rainforest for the first 100 people who sign up! www.wren.co/join/xylafoxlin
💸 Support me on Patreon:
/ xylafoxlin
*PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS EXPERIMENT AT HOME. IT INVOLVES DANGEROUS CHEMICALS THAT CAUSE CANCER IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ALSO EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD*
I hope you enjoyed this project! It took me FOREVER (although I did finish making that piece of Oak in March and then get distracted building a rocket... here's my tweet to prove the occasion ;) XylaFoxlin/status...
I will say, I edited this part out of the video to save time but I felt like the paper was not written to be replicate-able. It severely undermines the role of toluene as an aromatic solvent and says simply "The treated wood pieces were then immersed in ethanol for 5 hours to remove any remaining chemicals and then transferred to toluene so as to exchange the ethanol in the wood." I'll leave that one up to the reader :)
For the original paper: advances.sciencemag.org/conte...
Follow me on social media:
📸 Instagram: / xylafoxlin
🐦 Twitter: / xylafoxlin
📘 / xylareifoxlin
Buy my MERCH:
📦 shop.xylafoxlin.com/
💌SEND ME THINGS📦:
Xyla Foxlin
3727 W. Magnolia Blvd. # 174
Burbank, CA 91505
My Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/xylafoxlin
Huge thank-you to TotalBoat for supporting my channel!
Use my affiliate link for 5% off your whole purchase :)
www.totalboat.com/BotalToat
Parts and Tools Used in this Video:
--------------------------------------------------------
TotalBoat 2:1 High Performance Epoxy: www.totalboat.com/product/hig...
TotalBoat Thickset Epoxy: www.totalboat.com/product/tot...
Vacuum Bagging Kit: www.jamestowndistributors.com...
Vacuum Bagging Pump: www.jamestowndistributors.com...

Пікірлер: 1 500

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Join me on Wren and start offsetting your carbon footprint today! We'll protect 5 extra acres of rainforest for the first 100 people who sign up! www.wren.co/join/xylafoxlin What did you think of my first voyage into the world of organic chemistry? I edited this comment out of the video since it broke the flow, but I was quite disappointed at the paper for being what I believe is unreplicatable. I am not an academic, but I don't think it was written such that someone could follow the measly Fabrication paragraph and achieve clear wood without adding a significant amount of their own chemistry knowledge. What do you think? I've linked the full paper in the description. PS. I am SO CLOSE to 100k! I think I'll do a celebratory livestream that week so be sure to keep that bell turned on so you don't miss it!

@fullflowaerospace 3 жыл бұрын

Ok.. dis cool

@el-domo 3 жыл бұрын

we worked with this before. Replacing glass with chemicals and some fibers just to say it is "transparent wood" and not "Nasty Resin with wood fibers" is not only totally wrong, but we cannot find world for it. As a fun project, yes. But anything else, no! no way.

@kreynolds1123 3 жыл бұрын

little tip for quicker vacuuming vacuum chambers. Get some objects to help fill empty volumes in the chamber, and they should not off gas.

@n8theb 3 жыл бұрын

Your animated o-chem structure diagram with the mask wearing xylene molecule made my evening. Thanks for rep'ing authentic dork on the KZfaqs Xyla. 👩‍🔬

@Slikx666 3 жыл бұрын

I think you did better that NileRed and AvE. They both had problems and kind of got it working but they used end grain wood. Well done 👍😃

@NileRed 3 жыл бұрын

Good job! It was fun to see your transparent wood adventure. It brought back some trauma 😢

@Kay_Sea251 3 жыл бұрын

I was just thinking when you were gonna comment.

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

We should unionize against transparent wood

@prasakmanitou4925 3 жыл бұрын

hahaha, your struggle was epic!

@epicassassin8502 3 жыл бұрын

Nice to see you here

@keelanrunnalls126 3 жыл бұрын

I was thinking of your video while watching Xylas video. I would be interested in how the paper actually did it or if there was some funny science documentation going on there.

@thethoughtemporium 3 жыл бұрын

Rule number 1 is never trust a paper. EVER. I've honestly lost count how many I've tried to replicate that either don't work or they left out some key detail or they were waaaaaaay over generous with how easy the method is. My lab notebook usually looks insane from all the stuff crossed out and rewritten after trying protocols dozens of times until they work. What was supposed to be a simple protocol for getting DNA into yeast took like... a year? to get it working. Totally know the feeling of being unable to sleep until I solve a problem. Was dangerous having a lab in my house for a while cause it was hard to not work. Good on you for sticking with it till the end. The end result looked great! Congrats!

@baikia777 3 жыл бұрын

So basically, most researchers are trolls?

@s0rc3 3 жыл бұрын

@@baikia777 There are a lot of factors, sometimes the process depends on things the original researchers didn't realize were important or not even measured, some labs don't want to give away all the details since that more readily enables people to do the same thing and possibly scoop you on future papers, journal articles tend to be concise and even in the supplemental you might not extensively document all the details, usually the primary experimental people write the methods and don't have someone try to follow them as written to make sure they work so you might have missed something or just oversimplified since you are so familiar with it. In the end its quite frustrating to try to replicate other people's papers even when you are working in a well funded and equipped lab you still can really struggle getting stuff to work.

@janikarkkainen3904 3 жыл бұрын

But, isn't that the scientific process? Other people present results, and other people try to replicate, as long as the process continues the more closer to the truth we get. One paper isn't the end all be all truth, just as one test of a paper that contradict it isn't.

@PebelWasTaken 3 жыл бұрын

@@janikarkkainen3904 this almost... Never happens the way its "supposed too". Most pier review is just "does this make sense". For reasons of cost, time, equipment etc. If you do a test on a large hadron collider nobody outside your lab can replicate it. If you make clear wood it's not that scientifically important so nobody tries to replicate it.

@tompw3141 3 жыл бұрын

It's always worth reaching out to the paper's author(s) wherever possible. Papers are intended to focus on the parts most relevant to the intended audience, which may not be "someone trying to replicate the methodology."

@gwenliu5865 2 жыл бұрын

My son tried to do this exact experiment for his science fair project and he got stuck on the epoxy part. Seeing this video was so eye opening and we’ve realized there are no details in that paper!!!! Thank you Xyla!

@franciskisner920 3 жыл бұрын

When your vacuum chamber or pressure chamber is too large, consider filling it most of the way with non-porous, incompressable material like rocks just to take up much of the volume.

@ireallyreallyhategoogle 2 жыл бұрын

@jimsmedley234 3 жыл бұрын

Xyla: you've finally met and recognized your evil twin sister, Xylene.

@shoutykat 3 жыл бұрын

And they both ganged up and did terrible things to their cousin, Xylem.

@j121212100 3 жыл бұрын

haha

@MichaelHarto 3 жыл бұрын

@@shoutykat and their other cousin, xylophone

@SnorrioK 3 жыл бұрын

@@MichaelHarto - That's what they use to communicate.

@kilo_kilo 3 жыл бұрын

Xylene Foxlene

@Jabrils 3 жыл бұрын

Congrats Xyla! Now make a whole canoe out of transparent wood 😈

@evelynprice1662 3 жыл бұрын

NO!

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

You are no longer invited canoeing 😒

@Jabrils 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin holy shit it worked!

@jogvanjakupsson2952 3 жыл бұрын

Whole canoe? How about a whole house?

@Allan_aka_RocKITEman 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin >>> How about _"transparent aluminum?"_ 😉

@josephmoya5098 3 жыл бұрын

The idea that this is process could be more "environmentally friendly" than standard glass is hilarious. Silica is one of the most abundant resources on the planet, and all you require is heat to create glass. This requires a bunch of petroleum-based distillates (plastic epoxy) and chemicals that are harmful. That being said, it's pretty cool.

@yoknom 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I though the same. I mean, if I have to use resin for this, why even bother with the wood? (honest question because I never worked with resin, does the wood in there provide something?)

@sirpoopdi3420 2 жыл бұрын

As a science student, I will put anything on my report if it sounds even remotely feasible just to satisfy the “what does this paper bring to the area that’s new fun and fresh” criteria lmao. But also, I heard that we were running low on the specific type needed to make glass? Probably not a problem anytime soon but if we don’t up our recycling game it might be. Don’t have any references and can’t remember where I heard it from though, so it’s entirely possible I dreamed the whole thing up

@JD-wf2hu 2 жыл бұрын

Entirely this.

@hearmerant 2 жыл бұрын

@@sirpoopdi3420 Not sure about glass, but we're using more sand for cement than the Earth is replacing.

@sirpoopdi3420 2 жыл бұрын

@@hearmerant dang, didn’t know that, thanks for sharing

@brindlebucker4741 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, watching a process unfold with failure and re-evaluation is much more instructive than seeing a one off successful run. This sort of video teaches people who to go about things- anything, it doesn't matter. Writing a novel, for example. You work yourself into an untenable position, you back up and evaluate and try something new. You keep working until you get success or you understand why success isn't possible. Then, for the rest of your life, you KNOW that thing.

@TotalBoat 3 жыл бұрын

Such an awesome experiment and execution! The moment you saw that it became clear was so exciting!!!

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! And thank you as always for all the project support 💜

@wjdragon 3 жыл бұрын

Botal Toat! (21:21)

@TotalBoat 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin You can always count on Botal Toat!!!

@immaculatelation 3 жыл бұрын

@@TotalBoat Totes!

@andrewedgecombe 3 жыл бұрын

The relentless problem solving, particularly with a modest array of tools/resources, is probably the biggest gift in this video. Not to mention the introduction to organic chemistry! Fantastic effort, remarkable result, well put together!

@TechNed 3 жыл бұрын

"I forgot that Petco has pets". The best line.

@Juidodin 3 жыл бұрын

0:28 - "alternative for eco-friendly windows" - uses a shipload of chemical stuff and the energy consumption of a small town to finally make a little square covered in chemical waste :D

@0Arcoverde 3 жыл бұрын

Economy of scale would solve most of these, the problem really is epoxy, it's not really eco-friendly anymore

@JD-wf2hu 2 жыл бұрын

@@0Arcoverde solve is a very strong word.

@orielsy 2 жыл бұрын

@@JD-wf2hu it is accurate. Solve is the right word. Once the process is narrowed down any difficulty derived from not knowing what works best is gone. As well as the reduction of cost and materials.

@JD-wf2hu 2 жыл бұрын

@@orielsy reduction doesn't equal elimination. To 'solve' the issue of vast energy costs and the use of highly toxic chemicals. They would need to be entirely removed. So no, solve isn't the right word.

@kelseywatson1974 3 жыл бұрын

Next level peer review Footnote: "Make sure headlights are off before submerging wood samples in xylene"

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

No need to @ me like that 😂

@kelseywatson1974 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin it’s important information for the next scientist who builds off of your research!

@alex0589 3 жыл бұрын

Xylene Xyleeeenn Xyleen XYLLEEEENN

@alightvlogging 3 жыл бұрын

@@alex0589 I'm begging of you please don't burn my man

@karl_alan 3 жыл бұрын

Evan and Katelyn had similar frustrations when they tried to do this project. I was just watching their video the other day & remember seeing their several failed attempts before they got it.

@bradb7223 3 жыл бұрын

I'm an old woodturner and just thought you might want to try this with Red Oak as it is known for being very porous (so much so you can blow air through the end grain). Also orienting this so you had a flat section of end grain would really help with removing bubbles and saturating with epoxy. Just my thoughts I have no idea if they would help and if you want to give it another shot.

@athmaid 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah 4:45 actually shows how porous it really is

@wbfaulk 7 ай бұрын

Seems like using end-grain would kind of defeat the purpose. The only reason the wood is in there is to improve the tensile strength of the resin (this is really just wood-reinforced resin, not transparent wood), and a slab of end-grain isn't going to add much tensile strength.

@dolphin64575 2 жыл бұрын

"Nothing to shake a stick at" that's INCREDIBLE! FANTASTIC!

@jocax188723 3 жыл бұрын

Xyla: "This is gonna be easy!" Me, having watched Nigel give himself ulcers over the course of several videos: "Ha"

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

👀 In my defense only one had come out when I did this 😅

@pattheplanter 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin You thought of using other woods to get a better result. I have not seen that before.

@h3yw00d 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin did you see AvE's video on transparent wood before starting this project? IIRC he had some unique insights into his own failings at making it.

@tumbke 3 жыл бұрын

@@h3yw00d now i just want to see all the youtubers collab on a huge transparent wood project

@AlessioSangalli 3 жыл бұрын

@@h3yw00d exactly, AvE did this years ago...

@fredyhowald3348 3 жыл бұрын

She's so wonderfull. Curious, full of joy, smarter than most combined with her smile. FANTASTIC

@JaapZeldenrust 3 жыл бұрын

17:30 "Look! What you don't see is a transparent piece of wood." Also, this was really interesting, and the trial and error approach made for an engaging story.

@NOLAfugee 3 жыл бұрын

21:40 I'm sure Botal Toat appreciates the shout-out.

@j.r.millstone 3 жыл бұрын

Helpful tip: when you said your pressure pot was too large for pulling a good vacuum using your pump, you just need to fill the unneeded space in the pressure pot with something. Bricks, marbles, packed greensand, whatever it takes.

@MrSmitheroons 3 жыл бұрын

Good suggestion... I'd be paranoid about unexpected materials changing the experiment, but that probably shows how much I don't know about these processes.

@JosephHarner 3 жыл бұрын

"With something" is much too non-specific. Many materials will off-gas when exposed to vacuum, which would make drawing a vacuum even *more* difficult.

@j.r.millstone 3 жыл бұрын

@@JosephHarner "with something" is exactly as specific as it needs to be. All makers are not privy to perfect solutions at any given time and they can use their own judgment to make their choice of what to use.

@metacob 3 жыл бұрын

After seeing the NileRed video, the intro was exactly what I was expecting. Making clear wood is like some sort of magic youtube maker trap!

@akamai897 3 жыл бұрын

I admire your determination to solve the problems and stay with it to get the result. It's a great example for young people to see. Thank you Xyla!

@Ruth_Amos 3 жыл бұрын

Wow! So impressed, it’s the best transparent wood attempt I’ve seen AND I understand the science more so THANK YOU! Can we talk about how cute your neighbours dog is?!

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

I love Darcy more than anything 😭😍

@MonkeyJedi99 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin When you first showed Darcy, I thought it was Simone's dog Scraps, until I counted the legs.

@zyphit 3 жыл бұрын

Died at the toluene solvent animation.

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Omg I'm no animator but I was SO PROUD of that 😂😂😂

@d3.1415 2 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin It was pretty excellent and you should be proud

@josephdonais3436 3 жыл бұрын

If more of us could be so bright and persistant, I think humanity's problems would be so transparent. Solving them has a learning curve too.

@TheOtherGuybo 6 ай бұрын

Glad you didn't quit, even though I don't know the point of encasing wood in epoxy except to demonstrate you can make transparent wood. So be it, great channel. I learned some organic chemistry along the way, and that was very useful. Thank you!

@Kreasy 3 жыл бұрын

In an effort to create eco friendly windows one car, an apartment, and two garages were turned into Super Fund Hazardous waste clean up sites, I would call this experiment a resounding success

@cameronjellison2085 3 жыл бұрын

What “eco friendly alternative” would be complete without hypocrisy, proprietary methodology, and a thinly veiled cash grab that is in the long run demonstrably worse for the environment.

@rubberduck2078 3 жыл бұрын

Glass is eco friendlier than epoxy

@tryscience 3 жыл бұрын

@@rubberduck2078 it's much tougher to cast

@fewwiggle 3 жыл бұрын

@@tryscience "it's much tougher to cast" But, would it be for a glass producer?

@tryscience 3 жыл бұрын

@@fewwiggle yes it would be very difficult to put all that grain in a pane of glass

@nathankane38 3 жыл бұрын

These are the types of videos that are worth watching all the way through without skipping

@stevefrayne 3 жыл бұрын

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE your happiness. If anyone ever hates on you for that or calls you “inauthentic” please remember... jealousy makes people say terrible things.

@mikelee1906 3 жыл бұрын

I think it is great that you let everyone see all the times your experiments do not work out as planned. That is an invaluable way you learn. As an inventor it is part of my daily process. It gets easier after a while. You have to venture out far from the ordinary to create anything unique which sets one up for small setbacks on the way to successful projects. But it makes the successful outcomes all the more special. It always brings me a smile when I see a new video by you!!! Keep up the incredible videos!!

@clem_approves5020 3 жыл бұрын

Surprised the link from Insta worked, good to see the video finally here after watching the progression over months in stories!

@cjc363636 Жыл бұрын

Such a great 'scientific method' adventure! As an old audio/broadcast electronic nerd, I've had plenty of 'bad path' turnarounds---but eventually solved the issue. I am thankful audio doesn't usually require epoxy. Or breathing masks! Hats off to you for all that work!

@chemistrykrang8065 3 жыл бұрын

As an organic/materials/green chemist I can 100% confirm that replicating literature procedures in your own lab is often a huge pain, and there's always an element of cookery and witchcraft to getting good results... that's part of what makes org chem fun, but also why so many of my colleagues have so little hair. The stories I could tell you about reactions that only work if there's a tiny bit of water in your solvent but not too much, and the original author got lucky and didn't mention any of that....

@BeckyStern 3 жыл бұрын

I'm impressed by your persistence, Xyla! Awesome video!

@justinyates1154 3 жыл бұрын

Nile red made a good video about transparent wood, he had to modify a few of the methods in the paper he followed

@scotrick3072 2 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad you love C-Thru things! I too, love C-Thru things, and wrote a story about featherless chickens and transparent cows, so I'm with you on the transparent wood! Or aluminum. I love C-Thru metals.

@thetomster7625 3 жыл бұрын

soooo, if I understand that correctly: you break away parts of the wood molecules and replace it with clear epoxy which then is sort of transparent... so basically, you could as well just use 100% epoxy in a mold... where is the environmental friendly innovation there?! still a cool project :)

@floriannadler 3 жыл бұрын

Good point. Only thing I can think of is that you a) save a bit of epoxy and b) maybe enhance structural stability compared to an epoxy-only approach. Other than that, you are using extremely toxic chemicals like toluene or xylene. I guess they thought it's a cool idea, but since nowadays you always need an application to get funding, most of the time people just "invent" an application. Research got way too commercialized, meaning you have better chances of funding if you present a marketable product rather than "just" a new piece of knowledge. Instead of the chemicals, I would probably try to use fungal enzymes for breaking up the lignin. May take a bit longer, but you don't need toxic chemicals for it and with the right enzyme mix you might be able to break it up far enough so you can use non-aromatic solvents for washing out the digested chromophores. But I studied molecular biotech, so of course my approach would be a bit different than hers (also genetic engineering and enzyme purification is not suuuuper feasible to do in a garage ;)).

@thetomster7625 3 жыл бұрын

@@floriannadler very well put. two things: 1. if only all conversations on youtube would be that nice and informative 2. I would love seeing that approach - if not already tried out - done in a similar video... well, not in the garage obviously :D

@floriannadler 3 жыл бұрын

@@thetomster7625 1. Thank you :) guess chances of having a nice and informative conversation are slightly higher under a scientific video, simply attracts a more objective crowd I'd say. 2. A quick google scholar search didn't reveal anything in that direction, most research on lignin depolymerization focuses on the subsequent use of the breakdown products, since lignin is the worlds most abundant aromatic compound (I'll try to put a link to this review here, maybe you'll find it interesting: biotechnologyforbiofuels.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13068-021-01934-w).

@skippydippy6167 3 жыл бұрын

I was going to say that!'

@dermax_hd 3 жыл бұрын

saw the videos from NileRed a while back which really really surprised me that you tried that. not to talk down on you but Nile did chemistry in forever and really really struggled with the clear wood. Altho it didn't turn out quiiite as good as you envisioned, I really really think you did super well! Great job Xyla keep it up!

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Nigel is brilliant! My version is much less professional but hopefully shows everyone can do anything with enough bullheaded determination :)

@xgh1000 3 жыл бұрын

HIS NAME IS NIGEL??????? WHAT?

@NOLAfugee 3 жыл бұрын

@@xgh1000 his last name isn't Red, either. 🤯

@sammiller6631 3 жыл бұрын

@@xgh1000 Didn't you know about the plans for Nigel? Nigel just needs that helping hand.

@sammiller6631 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin Nigel gave up on transparent wood quicker than you did in his first video, even though it was his field of study. His version is more professional from it being his major and being a full time KZfaqr longer. Would he be as determined with a electromechanical challenge as you were with this chemistry conundrum outside your field? Or perhaps him being on the full time KZfaq treadmill for so long might also be why he's so quick to drop a challenge and move on to the next project to keep the content flowing?

@Birb_of_Judge 3 жыл бұрын

I've seen this before, but i love to see more people trying this. Because transparent wood is rad

@lqv3223 3 жыл бұрын

Super excited for the Corset v2 video now!

@PokeRemcards 3 жыл бұрын

Xyla is Brilliant. She is so impressive and i loved watching her go though her scientific process problem solving issue after issue.

@RedStefan 3 жыл бұрын

Fun Trivia: Xylin is short for Xyla Foxlin.

@IdealGrain 3 жыл бұрын

Xyla, you're a freaking legend. So much work into this. Really admire your tenacity. Awesome job!

@chrisdavison6678 3 жыл бұрын

I watch and read a lot of horror, thrillers, crime stuff, but there was more tension and excitement here that in any Hollywood blockbuster. Wonderful to see it all come together.

@Cyrribrae 3 жыл бұрын

I like how this went from "Maybe we can make environmentally friendly windows out of wood!" to "We're using an incredibly toxic mix of banned cancer-causing chemicals!" Love it.

@zell9058 3 жыл бұрын

You know how they make Holy Water??? They just boil the hell out of it.

@Craftlngo 3 жыл бұрын

ba dumm tss

@texhunter1820 3 жыл бұрын

They cook kidneys by boiling the piss out of them.

@ike1660 3 жыл бұрын

Do you work for Portapotti or are you just taking the piss?

@cavemaneca 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, that's an exceptional result! Keep up with the experiments.

@SarahIngleOfficial 3 жыл бұрын

Your explanation at 10:57 is iconic. He’s like a little chemistry hamburglar. And your clear wood is AMAZING!! 🤯 One minute you’re downplaying your chemistry knowledge and the next you pull out a perfectly transparent block of wood. 🧊

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Chemistry hamburgler!! 💜

@chriskennedy2846 3 жыл бұрын

@@xylafoxlin You should know that across town Bryan Cranston ran the same experiment and produced much thicker pieces of wood that were transparent. However they did have a bluish tint to them.

@EnhancedNightmare 3 жыл бұрын

As person who worked a lot in chem lab with low pressure systems and with epoxy as a hobby it made me smile every time you made mistake obvious to me and then found out, haha. In general evaporating all of the xylene or acetone should take longer than you leave them. You should also be wary of solvent vapours inside the pump as it can accumulate and dilute oil or foul the seals. We usually leave samples (much much smaller ones) in vacuum oven over night.

@vivaldirules 3 жыл бұрын

It was excellent of you to persist at this and to show your incremental failures and successes on this video. One thing I learned early on is that researchers, particularly students, are anxious to talk about their work to people who are interested. If you called the principal investigator at U. Maryland, I am certain he would be very happy to have you talk with his students and you will likely be able to hear all their stories of their own incremental failures and successes. Research papers are truly meant to contain the barest minimum of detail to the reader. I bet they would love to hear from you and they would benefit from it, too, even if you aren’t interested in further investigating this subject yourself.

@windbreaker57 3 жыл бұрын

Love how you just don't quit. Impressive results, too.

@dionamuh 3 жыл бұрын

0:25 Yeah, the whole process seems very eco-friendly indeed...

@TechyBen 3 жыл бұрын

This is why "new battery tech" never gets released for like 50 years. It's a simple idea discovered, but refining and perfecting the skills to make it work every time... instead of making mistakes takes ages!

@jparky1972 3 жыл бұрын

I've seen at least one other video showing transparent wood using the same paper here on KZfaq. Your video, however, is so much more in depth. Explaining a lot more of the science behind the process and what each step in the process does. I also enjoyed your energy which made watching the science parts both interesting and fun. Well done and thank you. You've just gained a subscriber.

@toshley6192 3 жыл бұрын

"as the girl who likes wood and who likes making things clear that shouldn't be clear". That's certainly a.. unique set of interests.😂

@damdampapa 3 жыл бұрын

Thank Thor I wasn't the only one with perverted adolescent humour!

@Mippi12 3 жыл бұрын

Your "Hey everyone" gives me jump scares.

@yuriysukhorukov391 3 жыл бұрын

0:29 Paper says that it is a viable alternative for eco-friendly windows *suggests soaking the wood in loads of smelly chemicals.* Yeah, definitely eco-friendly Great adventure and not quitting until it works, sooo cool!

@nathansell7634 3 жыл бұрын

This sums up every engineer ever trying to recreate results they came across in an academic paper!

@ThePhatSumo 3 жыл бұрын

I don't think the chemicals used in this are eco friendly. Glass seems like a much more eco friendly alternative.

@bemusedalligator 3 жыл бұрын

considering that one of the main ones is literally banned in california and they all require serious PPE, I think I agree that they're definitely toxic.

@ExternalDialogue 2 жыл бұрын

or just the epoxy on its own 🤔

@ireallyreallyhategoogle 2 жыл бұрын

IDK, it does take a lot of heat to create glass, so a lot of combustion. If the whole process is done in a sealed space and all the chemicals get reused, maybe it can be not that bad.

@SwitchAndLever 3 жыл бұрын

"Don't know when to quit"...obviously you do, the answer is NEVER! 😄 It's been a fun project to follow through the stories!

@wilhelmhohenzollern576 3 жыл бұрын

She did quit before making a corset out of it.

@chemistrykrang8065 3 жыл бұрын

Projects are never finished, only abandoned.

@russwilliams4777 2 жыл бұрын

I love the KZfaq Peer Review Process... I'm not sure the original paper's authors would feel quite so positive about the comments, but the fact that you're able to reproduce and refine their work _for everyone to see_ is brilliant!

@hmayesh 3 жыл бұрын

Nothing like repeated failure to make you an expert. Just stumbled on your video and I was on the edge of my seat. It was like a science drama film. Great work!

@HotelPapa100 3 жыл бұрын

"Eco friendly windows in the future" Sure. Substitute the process of melting minerals with a whole barrage of dubious chemicals. More to the point: Why not skip the whole "wood" thing and just cast epoxy panes? (Which probably still have a way larger ecological footprint than mineral glass) SMH It sure was fun to attempt it, though.

@dexdrako 3 жыл бұрын

thank you for posting this first i was just about to to the same in the end this is still just single use plastic with some traces of wood byproduct as a filler. glass is endlessly recyclable, chemically inert and brakes back down into sand in the end. so its better for the environment in every possible way you can mesure.

@bikerfirefarter7280 3 жыл бұрын

@@dexdrako "glass is endlessly recyclable (not), chemically inert (isn't) and brakes back down into sand in the end (doesn't). so its better for the environment in every possible way you can mesure." No! But it has some very good aspects, despite it's faults. btw there is no such 'thing' as glass, glassiness is a property; even plastics and metals can be 'glassy'.

@AlessioSangalli 3 жыл бұрын

@@bikerfirefarter7280 *its

@AlessioSangalli 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah the ecological part is to send money to the sponsor so that they can save the amazon 😂

@Electric999999 3 жыл бұрын

Well the idea is that the end product is stronger than just the epoxy, and that bit does work. I'm not sure how the manufcacture and use of the chemicals used for this compare to making glass (I'd expect significant energy usage due to the temperatures involved). Bit of a moot point since it doesn't work nearly well enough to go in windows or really anywhere else we care about being able to see things not pressed up against it of course.

@szczerzo 3 жыл бұрын

AvE could add one thing to this video: "I know when to give up because the paper is so wimbley wombley".

@ike1660 3 жыл бұрын

Today we're working with ridgid carbon foam, they kill trees for that stuff, the sick bastards.

@DirtyMort10en 3 жыл бұрын

Not to make you stress more, but I wonder what balsa wood would do? Or whatever wood has the finest grains. Seems that the grain size is a huge portion of it. Also to anyone criticizing your energy and "happiness"... I say you are infectious and amazing! I love the energy. Pure joy and excitement of discovery. Too many people lose that and I hope you never do! Stay you, stay exited, stay wonderous! 😊

@hydriavision5610 2 жыл бұрын

"the paper made it sound really simple" the final famous words of every researcher

@batacafe 3 жыл бұрын

If I ever need to defend my country against the world's most powerful army, I'm recruiting Xyla.

@tractorsold1 3 жыл бұрын

0:32 "... could be a viable alternative for ECO-freindly windows in the future..." I think with those chemicals, maybe not. But it was fun.

@SerifSansSerif 3 жыл бұрын

Plus, ya know, it's reliant heavily on the epoxy... Which instead of heavily processed wood filled with plastic, you could just use plastic (plexiglass). Or just melt sand.... (not a criticism of Xyla or NileRed. A criticism of the researchers/writers of the paper)

@ChrischenL 3 жыл бұрын

Congrats Xyla and thanks for the great video 😃

@jaethesmol805 2 жыл бұрын

i love your neighbor he is so sweet and eager to help 😭😭

@cassiacries 3 жыл бұрын

everyone should have a Steve 💕

@xylafoxlin 3 жыл бұрын

Right? 🥺

@iamarunshrestha 3 жыл бұрын

Just realizing that Xyla Foxlin shortened is literally Xylin, Xylene

@RedStefan 3 жыл бұрын

Dammit you beat me to it.

@joshuaszeto 3 жыл бұрын

Im not sure if you have come across this product but look up "cactus juice". It's a heat activated resin that stays in liquid form in room temps. It's meant for stabilizing wood in a vacuum chamber. Since it doesn't cure until it's heated, you can leave the wood soaking under vacuum for days to maximize penetration. and ensure no bubbles cure in the wood fibers

@roseproctor3177 3 жыл бұрын

I love the amount of curiosity and willpower and determination that you have, that this project was keeping you up at night. I really love that energy

@ShubhamBhushanCC 3 жыл бұрын

The problem with modern academia is that they are so focused on possible patents that they obfuscate the process deliberately. It hurts the entire academic community as well as independent researchers

@sebastiantheilenberg9637 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry, but that's simply not true. Patenting something doesn't stop you from describing it perfectly. On the contrary, once it's patented you are free to disclose it, since it's already protected. And if you publish before patenting, you even get a grace period of one year after publication in which you can still file for a patent (in the US).

@dosgos 3 жыл бұрын

Some academic research is impossible to replicate, which is a problem with the whole system...

@mahamasamataman3087 3 жыл бұрын

Three things that you might consider trying: First, end grain cut wood (but this will make it more brittle and harder to do). Consider vacuum cycling for the Xyline stage to get more of that process deeper. Lastly, You mention "Oak" wood; however, red oak and white oak are very different for porousness. If I recall, "red oak doesn't make good boats" because it is porous.

@witcheater 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for not quitting in this (and other) adventures of the sciences and maths. Good job in your accomplishment in that way as well as your video production for us... 👍

@BEaton-kf7ej 3 жыл бұрын

There's a reason laboratories have hoods.

@chrisose 3 жыл бұрын

Cool "just because I can" project but considering the properties of the materials being used it has no advantage over glass or acrylic window material.

@rigilchrist 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure whether you are crazy or brilliant, but have decided it is both. Well done for the tenacity and enthusiasm in the face of so many setbacks. That is how progress is made. x

@Linusgump 2 жыл бұрын

I’m glad you were so transparent about your failures and frustrations. 😁

@quixototalis 3 жыл бұрын

C'mon, clear wood is easy. Get some wood, soak it in stuff for like some hours, call it names, dip it in resin or whatever, and wham. The wham is the important part.

@brohanfromrohan5771 3 жыл бұрын

"eco friendly". Glass itself is "eco friendly", but there's more to it that just being transparent. Is it scratch resistant? Shatter proof? Will it hold up to rock? Branch? A bullet? This is neat, but no one would install it on their house.

@mrnice4434 3 жыл бұрын

@Steve Gracy Not really all the chemicals and epoxy made it way more environment unfriendly then glass. Yes glass needs a lot of energy but at least you can recycle it quit easy if it breaks and if it does not break it last for ever, there are church windows hundreds of years old

@eschdaddy 3 жыл бұрын

It’s awesome that you show your failures along with your successes. It shows that we learn from them, furthering the process for others.

@sammyfromsydney 3 жыл бұрын

Tenacity is what you need in science and engineering. Those who give up after a few failures achieve nothing. Of course this had very little practical use, but that isn't the point at all. Good job sticking with it. I think if you'd been able to use xylene from the start you'd have been less frustrated, but that wouldn't have been as useful an excercise in showing resilience. You set a great example for kids that are interested in achieving things.

@landroveraddict2457 3 жыл бұрын

Hmm I have to question the "eco friendly windows" thing. The chemicals used in this process are far from eco friendly. You could do away with the wood and just have clear plastic like Perspex. Glass may take a lot of energy to produce but it is very long lasting you can see it in medieval churches. Glass is also recyclable and does not give off highly toxic fumes when burnt. This is an interesting process and I appreciated the huge effort you put into this video. I don't see this process being used for anything other than making over priced furniture for hipsters without a care for the planet.

@happy_dad4211 3 жыл бұрын

I agree. There is nothing “eco friendly” about this process. BTEX (Benzene/Toluene/Ethylbenzene/Xylene) family of VOCs can make people really sick and they are notorious for contaminating soil and groundwater. There is a reason why they’re banned.

@NiHaoMike64 3 жыл бұрын

@@happy_dad4211 Perhaps once a repeatable, cheap way to make it is found, next step is to find out how to get it done with more eco friendly chemicals?

@pablomax3045 3 жыл бұрын

I'm not saying she's the most attractive wood worker ever... but she is. Also, making transparent wood isnt easy. We replicated some recent studies in our lab. It works, but I still cannot imagine doing it on a commercial scale.

@semtex2987 3 жыл бұрын

i recommend to cover any container with highly volatile chemicals. this prevents the 'smells like a methlab neighbour issue' as well as preserves the chemical for further use 😉