Editorial Team
Published on 3 September 2025
Professor Yoon Hyo-jae’s research team from the Department of Chemistry at KU (President Kim Dong-One) has discovered the principle of generating electricity from rubber plant leaves without any additional processing, thereby successfully implementing thermoelectric performance superior to that of existing artificial materials.The results of this study were published online on July 26, 2025, in Advanced Materials, a globally renowned journal in materials science.
Leaves have long been recognized as mediators of photosynthesis and gas exchange. However, Professor Yoon Hyo-jae’s research group has demonstrated that plants can also serve as high-performance energy conversion devices.
The research group discovered the ionic Seebeck effect of plants in which moisture and ions within plant tissues move in response to temperature differences, thereby generating voltage differences. Specifically, when leaves are partially dried, an electrically conductive layer is formed on their surface, which dramatically amplifies the effect.
The researchers confirmed that the ionic Seebeck effect is exhibited not only in dried leaves but also in living leaves, enabling electricity generation. They also discovered that when electrodes were attached to living leaves and exposed to light, a stable voltage was repeatedly generated and that this energy conversion process did not affect the leaf’s physiological functions.
Kang Hun-gu, the first author of the article, said, “The fact that leaves can serve as ‘living thermoelectric devices’ that generate electricity by receiving heat is a new plant function that has not been observed until now. Our study well demonstrates a convergence research paradigm that interconnects chemistry, biology, and energy science.”
This research holds significant value from a sustainability point of view because the results could enable the utilization of plants in their natural state. Furthermore, since changes in plant health can be detected in real time, the results of this study are expected to have wide applications in environmental and agricultural fields, such as climate change response and plant growth monitoring.
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea.
