Using a new class of nanomaterials, a University of Wisconsin–Madison inventor is working to capture energy from the sun much as nature intended—with trees in a forest.

But these forests fit on a silicon wafer. And the trees are actually strands of titanium oxide crystals with branches 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Xudong (ZHU-dong) Wang, an assistant professor in UW–Madison's College of Engineering, has been working to create these nanowire electrode forests since he joined UW–Madison in 2008. Aided by funding from the WARF Accelerator Program, the effort now appears close to achieving key goals.