Patent ID: 11958209
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
Field: Machine tools (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  F | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A structure comprising:
a first piece of natural wood that has been chemically treated to remove lignin from the natural wood and to increase a porosity as compared to the natural wood before chemical treatment, and subsequently dried by freeze drying or critical point drying so as to substantially preserve a structure of cellulose-based lumina of the natural wood with the increased porosity,
wherein inner volumes of the cellulose-based lumina remain open or unobstructed in a cross-sectional view,
at least 90% of the lignin in the natural wood has been removed by the chemical treatment,
the first piece has been chemically treated to be hydrophobic or is provided with a hydrophobic coating,
the first piece is substantially white in color, and
the first piece exhibits a reflectivity of at least 90% in a wavelength range of 400-700 nm.