When the stabilising lignin is removed from the balsa wood, flexible cellulose layers remain (centre). Compression then creates an electrical voltage. (Visualisation: ACS Nano / Empa).
When the stabilising lignin is removed from the balsa wood, flexible cellulose layers remain ( centre ). Compression then creates an electrical voltage. (Visualisation: ACS Nano / Empa). Researchers at ETH Zurich and Empa have chemically modified wood and made it more compressible, turning it into a mini-generator. When compressed, it generates an electrical voltage. Such wood could serve as a biosensor or as a building material that harvests energy. As Ingo Burgert and his team at ETH Zurich and Empa have proven time and again: wood is so much more than just a building material.
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