Electronic Plants

Principal Investigator: Eleni Stavrinidou 

The ePlants group is an interdisciplinary team passionate about plants and technology! Our research is driven both by societal needs and scientific curiosity. We are developing bioelectronic technologies to enable new discoveries in plant science that can lead to more sustainable food production and to plants that can thrive in the changing climate. We are also developing biohybrid technologies and living materials based on plants to achieve new technological concepts that maintain living properties but also to increase the sophistication of our communication with the biological world. Our group is also part of the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC), Wallenberg Initiative on Materials Science for Sustainable Development (WISE) and is affiliated with the Umeå Plant Science Center. We are always interested in talented people to join the group. Contact Dr. Eleni Stavrinidou for more details. 

Research Activities

Read our review paper on Plant Bioelectronics and Biohybrids. (Illustration by Adam Armada-Moreira)

 

Plant Bioelectronics

Bioelectronic devices for plant monitoring and optimization- Tools for plant biologists, agriculture and forestry

Deciphering the propagation of the action potential in the carnivorous plant Venus Fly Trap with conformable multielectrode arrays. Photo credit Thor Balkhed We develop bioelectronic devices for plant interface. We design sensors and actuators, based on organic electronic and iontronic materials with the goal to overcome limitations of conventional methods and enable new discoveries We perform biological studies at the eGreenhouse Lab and collaborate with plant scientists from our network. Plant bioelectronics offer unique opportunities including dynamic and on-demand control of plant physiology and signalling as well as monitoring of plant processes in real time and with high spatiotemporal resolution. Plant bioelectronics are compatible with wild type and genetically engineered plants. Focus is given on understanding and enhancing plant responses to environmental stress and increasing plant yield. 

Read our recent publication in Science Advances.
Read our recent publication in PNAS.

 

Plant biohybrid systems

Leveraging plant structures and functions for technological systems.

Root supercapacitors are charged by an organic photovoltaic and then power an electrochromic display. Photo credit Thor Balkhed.

Plants are amazing machines powered by the sun that can self-repair, sense, and adapt to their environment while having hierarchical structures and complex biochemistry. Our research aims to leverage plant processes and structures for technological applications in energy and sensing. We discovered that plants can polymerize conjugated oligomers due to their endogenous enzymatic activity. In this way we can integrated organic mixed ionic electronic conductors directly into the plant structure. We developed biohybrid plants with an electronic root system that can be used to store energy and power low power electrochemical devices. Biohybrid plants pave the way for autonomous systems with potential applications in energy, sensing and robotics.

Read our recent publication in Materials Horizons.

 

Plant based living materials

Materials with living characteristics and evolving electronic, mechanical and structural properties.

Imagine a fundamentally different technology that changes in dimensions, responds to stimuli, and evolves over time acquiring new functionality. This vision can become reality by merging living components with high performing artificial materials, establishing intimate interaction and communication between the two. We are combining the unique characteristics of photosynthetic cells with functional materials and via additive manufacturing we are developing responsive and evolvable materials. The overall goal is to develop photosynthetic materials that maintain fundamental properties of the living components and set the foundation for the development of a generic hybrid technology.