Scientists Create World’s First Cyber Plants By Fusing Electronics With Roses
Swedish scientists have used living roses to ‘grow’ the components of electronic circuits for the very first time.
Published in the journal Science Advances, the new research shows wires, digital logic and even display elements fabricated inside the plants. These enable scientists to combine electronic signals with the plant’s own chemical processes.
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden were able to create the cyber-plants thanks to a special semi-conductive polymer that’s able to act as a wire as well as transporting water and essential nutrients through the flower.
By integrating electronics into the living systems of plants, it may be possible to learn more about the chemical processes that make them function, and potentially even learn to control them.
The special polymer is called PEDOT-S and was the only substance that the scientists tried that managed to assemble itself inside the flower’s xylem channels.
While the research is still in its early stages, future uses for the cyber-plants could include fuel cells powered by photosynthesis or tools that control the growth of plants.
“As far as we know, there are no previously published research results regarding electronics produced in plants. No one’s done this before,” said research leader Professor Magnus Berggren.
Image credit: Linköping University
H/T: ScienceAlert.com
