Empa

Every year, TIME publishes a list of the most important inventions of the year. This year, Gustav Nyström and his team from Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials Laboratory made it onto the list with their biodegradable disposable battery, which points the way to the future of environmentally friendly electronics.

The substitution of petrochemical materials with those obtained from renewable raw materials is an important step towards increasing sustainability. In just two years of intensive and open collaboration between Empa and the Datwyler Schweiz AG as part of an Innosuisse project, a process was successfully developed that brought together the worlds of cellulose and rubbers. 

Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has received 1 million Swiss francs in a first round of financing from a network of business angels from Switzerland and Liechtenstein and from the Startfeld Foundation. With this funding, Nahtlos aims to drive the market entry of its newly developed textile-based electrode for medical applications.

The approach and landing of passenger jets is often a burden for people and the environment. The DYNCAT project, in which Empa researchers are working with partners in Switzerland, Germany and France, is aiming at approaches that cause less noise and CO₂ emissions – thanks to intelligent assistance systems for the pilots.