Scientists discover material that is made like plastic and conducts electricity like metal

On October 26, a group of scientists through Nature, discovered a discovery that could change the world of electronics forever. In particular, they developed new electrical conductor made of a material very similar to plastic, but behaves like any metal.

How did they achieve this? Eventually, the molecular fragments that make up the material have been rearranged. Thus, we get a flexible product, but able to conduct electricity very well.

As described from Physics, for a scientist it would be equivalent to “seeing a car drive through water and being able to do so at 112 kilometers per hour.” Namely, something that goes against the whole logic of what we knowbut capable of being revolutionary for more than one industry at the same time.

In principle, this opens the way to the development of an entirely new class of materials that conduct electricity, are easy to form, and are very durable in everyday conditions.

John Anderson, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago and senior author of the study

How did they manage to create such a conductive material?

Conductive materials are needed today. Thanks to them, we can have electronic devices of all kinds. In fact, its importance is so great that its shortage has caused a real crisis among manufacturing companies today. So launches of entire devices are delayedand bottlenecks in the production of others such as Microsoft and Sony consoles.

Until now, the most popular kind of conductive materials among metals. Elements such as gold, copper and aluminum are used in industry. Today we know that new material may be included in this listalthough this is not the first time such a possibility has been explored.

As they remember About 50 years ago there was a similar discovery.. At that time, scientists discovered that they could create conductors from organic materials. To do this, all they needed was to use a chemical treatment of said material. Thus, it was charged with various atoms and electrons.

Nonetheless, this method is not recommended. Eventually, these highly flexible materials quickly lost their conductive treatment. High temperatures and exposure to moisture were found among the various causes.

New generation of electrical conductors

Despite its impracticality, this type of conductive material set a precedent that other scientists were able to follow. Thus, using this technique of agglomeration of atoms and molecules through ordered rows, scientist Then Xie began to experiment.

By testing different materials and atomic orders, he was able to create a sample that could easily and strongly conduct electricity. But best of all, it was also very stable. So unaffected by heat, cold, humidity, air or acidic chemicals.

It’s almost conductive Play-Doh. You can break it anywhere and it will conduct electricity.

John Anderson, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago and senior author of the study

The discovery of this style did not take long to stir up humor in the scientific community. Also, material can be applied at room temperature, removing the limitations of what could be done when designing devices. After all, in order to apply metal conductors, the material processing device must be heated, which is not the case in this new example.

Of course, it is too early to predict how this discovery will affect the industry. However, in such a troubled current situation with the electrical wire industry, it can be an excellent alternative after a closer look.