Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40714740›Full record

ArticleAdvanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)2025

High Ionic Seebeck Effect in Natural Leaves.

Hungu Kang, Hongwoo Lee, Cheljong Hong, Jiung Jang, Sahar Ayachi, Xin He, Pil Joon Seo, Alois Würger, Hyo Jae Yoon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. High Ionic Seebeck Effect in Natural Leaves.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Hungu KangDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.
Hongwoo LeeDepartment of Chemistry, Seoul University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
Cheljong HongDepartment of Chemistry, Seoul University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
Jiung JangDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.
Sahar AyachiDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.
Xin HeDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.
Pil Joon SeoDepartment of Chemistry, Seoul University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
Alois WürgerUniversité de Bordeaux and CNRS, LOMA (UMR 5798), Talence, 33405, France.
Hyo Jae YoonDepartment of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2501-0251

Funding

NRF of Korea RS-2022-NR074833NRF of Korea RS-2024-00351264NRF of Korea RS-2025-00517108
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Plants actively transport ions to sustain life, yet their capacity to convert heat to electricity via the ionic Seebeck effect has remained unexplored. Here, it is demonstrated that natural Ficus elastica leaves can generate ionic thermovoltages up to 7 V under mild temperature gradients, achieving a high ionic figure of merit of ∼5.6 at room temperature. This pronounced thermoelectric response arises from anion thermodiffusion through the apoplast and is significantly amplified by leaf desiccation and electrode selection. A dielectric capacitive model accounts for the observed enhancement. Notably, living leaves generate thermopower under light-induced temperature gradients, underscoring the potential of in vivo ionic thermoelectric assays. These findings reveal an unrecognized energy-harvesting function in plant tissue and introduce a biodegradable platform for sustainable thermal-to-electrical energy conversion.

Indexed as

ionic seebeckionsleafthermovoltage

Identifiers

PMID40714740
PMCPMC12531751

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.