A rechargeable light-emitting plant that glows after being charged for 10 seconds with an LED is being hailed as an advance in the emerging field of nanobionics.
These engineered plants can produce light that is 10 times brighter than the first generation of glowing plants, reported by the same team in 2017, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
The scientists, including Sheila Kennedy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said the findings could pave the way for a future in which the lighting infrastructure from living plants could “play an integral part of the spaces where people work and live.”
“We wanted to create a light-emitting plant with particles that will absorb light, store some of it, and emit it gradually. This is a big step toward plant-based lighting,” said Michael Strano, the study’s senior author and a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.
After about 10 seconds of blue LED exposure, the phosphor-infused plants could emit light for about an hour, with the glow being brightest for the first five minutes and then gradually diminishing, the study noted.
The scientists said these plants can be continually recharged for at least two weeks.
