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Vol. 18 (2026)

Highly Elastic and Conductive Lamellar Wood Sponge via Cell Wall Reconfiguration Toward Smart Multifunctional Applications

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02016-4
Xin‑jian Dai
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Xiangshan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
Xin Wang
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Xiangshan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
Ji‑hang Hu
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Xiangshan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
Pan Jiang
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Xiangshan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
Xiao‑qing Wang
Research Institute of Wood Industry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Xiangshan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100091, People’s Republic of China
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7460-0004

Corresponding Author: Xiao‑qing Wang

wangxq@caf.ac.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 171

Abstract

Three-dimensional porous foams and aerogels with high compressibility and elasticity hold great promise for applications in pressure sensing, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and thermal insulation. However, their widespread application is often hindered by compromised structural stability and inadequate fatigue resistance under repeated compression. Herein, a sustainable “top-down” cell wall reconfiguration strategy is proposed to fabricate highly elastic, fatigue-resistant, and electrically conductive lamellar wood sponge from natural balsa wood. This strategy involves the conversion of the intrinsic cellular structure of wood into an arch-shaped lamellar architecture reinforced by chemical cross-linking, followed by coating the lamellar scaffold with conductive polypyrrole (PPy) via in situ polymerization. The resulting PPy-coated cross-linked wood sponge (CWS@PPy) demonstrates reversible compressibility, excellent fatigue resistance (∼3.5% plastic deformation after 10,000 cycles at 40% strain). The strain-induced conductivity changes in CWS@PPy enable tunable EMI shielding effectiveness under cyclic compression and also facilities high-sensitivity pressure sensing (0.72 kPa−1). Additionally, CWS@PPy exhibits a low through-plane thermal conductivity of 0.037 W m−1 K−1, which can be dynamically tuned for adaptive thermal management. The proposed mechanically robust and conductive wood sponge provides a versatile and sustainable platform for next-generation smart devices.


Highlights:
1 Highly elastic, fatigue-resistant, and conductive lamellar wood sponges are developed via a cell wall reconfiguration strategy.
2 The strain-induced conductivity changes in lamellar wood sponge enable tunable electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness and high-sensitivity pressure sensing (0.72 kPa−1).
3 The wood sponge exhibits a low through-plane thermal conductivity of 0.037 W m−1 K−1, which is compression-tunable for smart thermal management.

Keywords

Cell wall reconfiguration Wood sponge Electromagnetic interference shielding Thermal management Pressure sensing
Dai, Xin‑jian, Xin Wang, Ji‑hang Hu, Pan Jiang, and Xiao‑qing Wang. 2026. “Highly Elastic and Conductive Lamellar Wood Sponge via Cell Wall Reconfiguration Toward Smart Multifunctional Applications”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (January):171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-02016-4.
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