Simply walking across wooden floors in our homes could soon be used to generate electricity, say researchers.
Scientists sandwiched two pieces of wood, one coated with silicone and the other with 'nanocristals', between electrodes to create an electric current when walked on. An A4-sized prototype could power an LED lightbulb.
Spruce generated 80 times more electricity than other wood in the research, published in the journal Matter. Senior author Dr Guido Panzarasa, from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, said the technology is 'scalable on an industrial level'.