Swedish researchers from Linköping University and the Royal Institute of Technology
Wood, although an insulator, was previouslymodified with conductive materials for use in batteries, supercapacitors and other electrical systems. In a new study, Swedish chemists and engineers have focused on building an electrical transistor out of wood.
Scientists used balsa woodmodified with conductive polymers - electrically conductive materials consisting of organic polymers. To do this, they placed strips of wood in a chemical solution to remove lignin, which transports water and provides mechanical support and stress-resistance to the wood. With the removal of lignin, the porosity of wood cell walls increases. The researchers soaked the treated materials in a liquid solution containing a conductive polymer.
An illustration of the creation of a transistor from wood. Image: Van Chinh Tran et al., PNAS
To create transistors, engineers usedthree planks of treated wood. Two of them were stacked on top of each other as control electrodes. The third was placed between them perpendicularly - it served as a channel between the power source and the current drain. The scientists filled the cavities in the channel with an electrolyte gel to keep the ions and electrons moving. The result is a cruciform transistor.
The researchers tested their device.They used a current of 2.5 V and showed that it was able to control the current. Although the speed of the device is significantly slower than silicon counterparts, the study demonstrates that the creation of biotransistors is fundamentally possible, the developers say.
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