The wood magician
The new head of Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials lab, Gustav Nyström, has taken everyone by surprise by setting unconventional goals. However, paper batteries and nanocellulose sensors have one main objective: to help solve fundamental, socially relevant questions. When Gustav Nyström sees a tree, he sees more than just a biological marvel. "A tree is a great example of how functionality, structure and beauty come together in nature and evolution," says the new head of Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials lab. For him, the trunk, leaves and roots are also a source of novel materials, which enable a wealth of potential new applications. And the fact that forests cover roughly one third of Switzerland and provide a sustainable, readily available resource is what makes wood so fascinating for Nyström. In times of climate change, the researcher is convinced that we should rely on CO2-neutral raw materials.
