Mar 10, 2021 11:02 PM
https://www.newscientist.com/article/227...walked-on/
EXCERPTS: The possibility of applying pressure to wood to produce an electric charge, known as the piezoelectric effect, has been discussed since the 1940s and 1950s. However, the vanishingly small amount of electricity the process produces has held back the idea. Now, a team led by Ingo Burgert at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has discovered how to tweak the internal structure of balsa wood to make the piezoelectric output 55 times higher. The solution was to deliberately rot the wood.
Burgert and his colleagues applied a white rot fungus (Ganoderma applanatum) to balsa wood for several weeks. This rapidly decayed the lignin and hemicellulose within the wood, reducing its weight by almost half. They found the sweet spot was six weeks of treatment to create wood that was more compressible – meaning it could generate more electricity from the pressing and releasing action when pressure was applied – without losing its strength.
[...] The amount of electricity generated is still very small, just 0.85 volts from one cube of decayed wood 15 millimetres across. Initially, the electricity could power remote sensors, for example ones that detect whether an older person has fallen over, suggests Burgert. However, in the longer run he envisages energy floors such as a wooden ballroom producing a much greater output, and is talking with companies about commercialising an energy wood product... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: The possibility of applying pressure to wood to produce an electric charge, known as the piezoelectric effect, has been discussed since the 1940s and 1950s. However, the vanishingly small amount of electricity the process produces has held back the idea. Now, a team led by Ingo Burgert at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has discovered how to tweak the internal structure of balsa wood to make the piezoelectric output 55 times higher. The solution was to deliberately rot the wood.
Burgert and his colleagues applied a white rot fungus (Ganoderma applanatum) to balsa wood for several weeks. This rapidly decayed the lignin and hemicellulose within the wood, reducing its weight by almost half. They found the sweet spot was six weeks of treatment to create wood that was more compressible – meaning it could generate more electricity from the pressing and releasing action when pressure was applied – without losing its strength.
[...] The amount of electricity generated is still very small, just 0.85 volts from one cube of decayed wood 15 millimetres across. Initially, the electricity could power remote sensors, for example ones that detect whether an older person has fallen over, suggests Burgert. However, in the longer run he envisages energy floors such as a wooden ballroom producing a much greater output, and is talking with companies about commercialising an energy wood product... (MORE - details)