WWSC research news

WWSC researchers at Linköping University have been part of developing a more environmentally friendly method for creating conductive inks for use in organic electronics like solar cells and artificial neurons.

WWSC researchers at Linköping University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a lignin-organic semiconductor composite materials for use as cathode interface layers in organic solar cells. The material is enhancing both the stability and the power conversion efficiency in state-of-the-art devices, thus paving way for biobased solar cells.

The electrification of our society has led to  a growing need for efficient and sustainable battery recycling methods. In response to this challenge, researchers at WWSC at KTH have achieved a  breakthrough in battery recycling by using nanocellulose in the metal separation. This innovative approach has the potential to significantly simplify the separation of battery metals from other materials, addressing the pressing demand for eco-friendly recycling processes.

Lignin is highly interesting as raw material for fossil-free materials, but the brown color can in many cases limit the applications. Now WWSC researchers at Stockholm University has produced a lignin-based material with all the colors of the rainbow by preparing lignin micro/nanoparticles with structural colors.

WWSC researchers at Linköping University and KTH have developed the world’s first wood-based transistor. This transistor is a major breakthrough in eco-friendly electronics, and paves the way for further development of wood-based electronics.

Delignified wood for strength, citrus-based limonene acrylate for achieving the transparency, and coconut-based laurylalcohol for enabling the storage and release of energy – that’s the recipe for the next generation transparent wood that can act as a biobased thermal battery.

WWSC-researchers at Chalmers have developed a cellulose nanocrystals-based technology that removes up to 80% of dye pollutants from wastewater. The material is sustainable, biodegradable, and offers a promising alternative to conventional adsorbents.

By imitating the way fungi decompose wood, WWSC researchers at KTH have been able to make a new type of material in an energy-efficient process. The enzyme-based process both consumed less energy and gave a stronger resulting material, compared to similar chemical methods, the researchers reported.

Mika Sipponen, Stockholm University, is awarded with the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for his research on using lignin as building block for recyclable materials.

WWSC researchers have developed a new kind of wood-based degradable biocomposite with semi-structural strength. Unlike thermoplastic, the material can be degraded without harming the environment. The findings have been published in Nature Communications.

A new method for the creating of insulating nanostructures in the pores of wood-based aerogels developed by WWSC researchers gives
materials with better insulation than conventional fossil-based insulation materials.

WWSC researchers Eleni Stavrinidou and Magnus Berggren, Linköping University, and co-authors receives the 2021 Materials Horizons Outstanding Paper Award with the article Biohybrid plants with electronic roots via in-vivo polymerization of conjugated oligomers.