"Birch Leaves: A Sustainable Source for Organic Semiconductors through Pressure-Cooking"

Physicists at Umeå University, in collaboration with researchers in Denmark and China, have discovered a sustainable alternative to producing organic semiconductors for optoelectronics. By pressure-cooking birch leaves, they have produced nanosized carbon particles with desired optical properties. These "carbon dots" emit a narrow-band, deep red light and have comparable properties to commercial quantum dots used in semiconductor materials, but without heavy metals or critical raw materials. The researchers demonstrated the potential of these carbon dots in light-emitting electrochemical cell devices, showing comparable brightness to a computer screen. This method of utilizing biomass as a raw material for organic semiconductors offers a more sustainable approach to meet the increasing demand for optoelectronic technologies.