Birch breakthrough: Umeå University project converts leaves into semiconductor material

A collaboration between researchers from Sweden, Denmark and China has successfully converted birch leaves into carbon quantum dots suitable for use in semiconductors.

The team, led by researchers at Umeå University, also produced a prototype semiconductor using the material. The dots were found to be a suitable replacement for semiconductor materials that require extensive mining operations to source, like platinum, indium and phosphorus.

“It is important to note that our method is not limited to birch leaves,” according to study author Jia Wang, research fellow in the Umeå University Department of Physics. “We tested different plant leaves with the same pressure-cooking method, and all of them produced similar red-emitting carbon dots. This versatility suggests that the transformation process can be used in different locations.”

The discovery was reported in a recent issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Green Chemistry.

The discovery and synthesis of quantum dots won chemists Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei Ekimov the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.