The hidden talent of mushrooms for solar steam generation Read more: The hidden talent of mushrooms for solar steam generation


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In this work, for the first time, researchers utilize living organisms – mushrooms – to generate steam under sunlight. It turns out that the micro- and macrostructures of mushrooms possess all the needed characteristics for a good solar steam-generation device: high solar absorption; efficient water supply and vapor escape; and good thermal management. Interestingly, a mushroom is an unlikely candidate as it typically lives in the shadow, i.e. it doesn’t get to see sunlight that much.
The mushroom maintains its hydrophilicity before and after carbonization because of its components, which include carbohydrates and proteins; the nitrogen functional groups [
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