Engineering news
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have used semi-conductive polymers to harness electricity from flowers, bushes and trees.
Using the channels that distribute water and nutrients in plants, the research group – lead by Professor Magnus Berggren – have built the key components of electronic circuits.
The researchers discovered that the conductive polymer PEDOT-S is soluble in water. When it is absorbed into a rose, it is converted into a hydrogel, which forms a thin film along the channel through which the flower absorbs water and nutrients. The team succeeded in getting the plants to produce 10cm segments, 50cm thick, of membranes – or film – of the conductive polymer. With an electrode at each end and a gate in the middle, an analog transistor was created.
They measured the conductive ability of the polymer from 0.13 siemens/cm all the way up to 1 siemens/cm.
Controlling the chemical pathways in plants could lead to photosynthesis-based fuel cells and devices that modulate the internal functions of plants so that they could produce important molecules more quickly.
Lead author Professor Magnus Berggren said: “As far as we know, there are no previously published research results regarding electronics produced in plants. No one's done this before.
"Now we can really start talking about 'power plants' - we can place sensors in plants and use the energy formed in the chlorophyll, produce green antennas, or produce new materials.
“Everything occurs naturally, and we use the plants' own very advanced, unique systems," Professor Berggren added.
The research was published in the journal Science Advances.