Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1115244 "mechanical durability, conductivity, environmental stability trade-off in conventional hydrogels... overcome: low-temperature alkali treatment removes lignin/ hemicellulose from basswood, leaving porous, aligned cellulose nanofiber framework... ternary zinc chloride, acrylic acid, and ethylene glycol infused into wood's micro-channels... UV irradiation triggers polymerization without needing additional chemical crosslinkers... 2.82 X 10^-2 S m^-1 ionic conductivity... sensors, signal transmission, wearables" Related: Engineers boost sustainable acrylic acid production using next‑generation membrane reactor https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-boost-sustainable-acrylic-acid-production.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1113564 "spruce wood biochar, montmorillonite clay, paraffin... biochar-clay scaffold increases thermal energy storage capacity 223% compared to clay-only/ improves thermal conductivity by 78% over pure paraffin... maintains >95% heat storage capacity after 1K cycles with negligible leakage... cooling consumption reduced 54% compared to bulk paraffin/ 24.3% compared to buildings without composite... more sustainable/ cost-effective than graphene... future: replace synthetic surfactants with bio-based molecules" Related: Mechanical engineers' wood-based material could cut energy costs https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-mechanical-wood-based-material-energy.html

https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=65068.php "1.2 M calcium chloride electrolyte evaporation-induced electrical power densities up to 10 W/m2, rivaling wind power... electrokinetic effect, sustainable... delignified balsa and cellulosic balsa increased surface area 10 and 21X... increased hydrophilicity, surface charge density, number vertically aligned negatively charged cellulose nanofibrils serving as ion nanofluidic channels... 2 mm thick DBWG generated open-circuit 0.77 V, short-circuit current 148 µA, biodegradable, environmentally friendly... self-powered sensors"

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-3d-wood-natural-components.html "cheap, eco-friendly, additive-free, water-based lignin and cellulose direct ink writing... adjusting lignin, cellulose nanofiber, and nanocrystal ratio, maintaining natural lignin-cellulose balance... close similarities to natural wood in texture, scent and strength... mechanical tests were performed to evaluate compressive and bending strengths, revealing promising results that surpassed those of natural balsa wood" Related: New environmentally friendly wood fiber boards https://www.nibio.no/en/news/new-environmentally-friendly-wood-fiber-boards Using nano-iron technology results in stronger wood for sustainable materials https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1081775 InventWood is about to mass-produce wood that’s stronger than steel https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/12/inventwood-is-about-to-mass-produce-wood-thats-stronger-than-steel/ Building a high rise out of wood? Cross-laminated timber could make it possib...

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-reveals-eco-friendly-generate-power.html "low cost... low-grade heat (<200 C) recovered from lignin-derived membranes... waste heat to electricity utilizing movement of charged atoms (ions) within material... in industrial processes, 66% of waste heat falls into this category, highlighting the potential of this breakthrough for developing sustainable heat-to-electricity applications... membrane is lightweight, easy to synthesize, and biocompatible, making it suitable for thermal energy harvesting, temperature sensing, and biomedical sensors" Related: Valorization of depolymerized lignin using microorganisms https://phys.org/news/2024-03-valorization-depolymerized-lignin-microorganisms.html Researchers develop a thermoelectric material with optimal cost, efficiency and flexibility https://phys.org/news/2024-03-thermoelectric-material-optimal-efficiency-flexibility.html Ion thermoelectric conversion devices for near room temperature https:...

https://techxplore.com/news/2023-03-sustainable-thermal-energy-batteries-fully.html "coconuts, lemons and modified wood heat and cool home, greenhouse... 100 kg save 2.5 kWh/ day heating or cooling given 24°C ambient temperature... coconut molecules can transition from solid-to-liquid which absorbs energy; or from liquid-to-solid which releases energy... removing lignin from wood opens pores in wood cell walls...  Limonene acrylate transforms into bio-based polymer when heated, restoring wood's strength and allowing light permeation; molecules trapped so energy storage and release" Related: Brenmiller Inaugurates World’s First-Ever Gigafactory for Thermal Energy Storage https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230502005795/en/Brenmiller-Inaugurates-World%E2%80%99s-First-Ever-Gigafactory-for-Thermal-Energy-Storage Lignin separation method could make renewable material profitable https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2023/07/31/lignin-separation-method-could-make-renewable-mat...

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/22/volkswagen-backed-northvolt-to-develop-wood-based-batteries-for-evs-.html "gigafactory, Northvolt Ett, commercial deliveries... $55 billion from businesses Volvo, BMW, and Volkswagen... lignin-based hard carbon would secure the strategic European supply of anode raw material and serve the sustainable battery needs for applications from mobility to stationary energy storage" Related: Scientists produce electricity from wood https://www.kth.se/en/om/miljo-hallbar-utveckling/mhu-nyheter/nyheter/forskarna-framstaller-el-ur-tra-1.1209584 The promise of batteries that come from trees https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221215-the-batteries-made-from-wood Northvolt develops state-of-the-art sodium-ion battery validated at 160 Wh/kg https://northvolt.com/articles/northvolt-sodium-ion/ Evaporation-Driven Dual-Function Wood Composites: Integrating Hydrovoltaic Generation and Thermal Management in Architectural Applications https://advanced.onlinelibrary...