Plants as energy stores. Scientists gave their roots electrical properties

A team at Linköping University in Sweden pointed out that plant roots can be used for energy storage, building on previous research. It is enough to water them with an appropriate solution and then use new mechanisms that unlock polymers formed in the plant that are capable of storing energy.

Roots like batteries, or plants as energy stores

The beans used in the team’s experiments are called Phaseolus vulgaris and generates polymers inside itself using the conjugated oligomer ETE-S, which is one of the components of the irrigation solution. It is thanks to him that a conductive layer of polymer is formed on the roots, which turns the entire root system into a network of conductors, able to remain active for over four weeks.

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Previously, we worked with plant seedlings that were able to accept and organize conductive polymers or oligomers. However [w takim scenariuszu] Plant seedlings can only survive for a few days and the plant no longer grows. In this new study, we use intact plants, an ordinary bean plant grown from seeds, and show that plants are in a sled to conduct electricity when watered with a solution containing oligomers.

Says Stavrinidou.

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In one experiment, scientists created a supercapacitor out of these roots, proving that improved past solutions could make the roots store up to 100 times more energy than previous systems that used only plant stems, and this appears to have little effect on the state of health. the plant itself. These works are said to show a promising path to integrate energy systems with living plants without compromising their biological functions.