Researchers at the Univ. of Maryland (UMD) have developed a device that can convert low-grade heat, such as body heat, into electricity. The device owes its unique structure to an unexpected, natural source — wood.
Wood has channels that carry water from the roots to the leaves. The researchers theorized that they could harness this structure to regulate and move ions to create an electric current.
But wood is too dense to be a practical current-carrier. To make room for an electrolyte solution to flow within the wood, they first needed to widen those natural channels...
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