Wood you believe it – the floor that powers your home! – Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy

Step to it your floor could soon generate energy with every footstep!

A new technology, developed by scientists at ETH Zurich and the research group Empa, has chemically modified wood, turning it into a mini-​generator.

Even if a little pressure, like a set of footsteps, is put on the new ‘wooden sponge’, it generates an electrical voltage, according to the study.

Wood has what scientists call a ‘natural piezoelectric effect’, but can only generate a very low electrical voltage.

ETH Zurich scientists had to change the chemical composition of wood to see if the amount of voltage could be increased.

Their goal was to convert wood into an easily formable material by dissolving out one of its components.

They used chemical substances on initial tests and a more sustainable one, fungus on a later trial.

They worked with wooden blocks and they found that if 30 such wooden blocks are connected up and evenly loaded with the bodyweight of an adult, enough electricity is generated to power a simple LCD display.

The team behind the novel material suggests that such wood could even be used as a building material that harvests energy.

Original Source: https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/09/06/wood-you-believe-it-the-floor-that-powers-your-home/