Sun-Powered Wood: Engineered Timber Stores Solar Heat and Generates Power

Researchers converted balsa wood into an all-in-one solar energy system by delignifying the wood, nano-engineering its channels with black phosphorene protected by a tannic acid–iron layer and silver nanoparticles, then filling the pores with stearic acid for heat storage. The material stores about 175 kJ/kg, converts roughly 91% of sunlight to usable heat, and can generate up to 0.65 V with a thermoelectric generator after illumination ends, while remaining durable over cycling and highly water-repellent. This wood-based approach could enable compact solar storage and heat management in electronics, pending scale-up.