homehome Home chatchat Notifications


World's first flexible, conductive and transparent material could lead to foldable phones

A new stretchable and transparent electrical conductor has been created at last, one that could finally allow entirely foldable tech to be made. Finding a material that meets all three conditions was thought  impossible until recently, although there are plenty of materials that meet two of the three. We know of materials, for instances, that are […]

livia rusu
February 10, 2014 @ 10:10 am

share Share

A new stretchable and transparent electrical conductor has been created at last, one that could finally allow entirely foldable tech to be made. Finding a material that meets all three conditions was thought  impossible until recently, although there are plenty of materials that meet two of the three. We know of materials, for instances, that are transparent, but not stretchable (glass), while others are transparent and stretchable, but very poor electrical conductors, such as carbon nanotube films, graphene sheets and metal-nanowire meshes. The latter are very good conductors actually, in normal conditions, but not when you start stretching them.

The study was conducted by Zhifeng Ren, a physicist at the University of Huston, principal investigator at Texas Center for Superconductivity and his associates, Chuang Fei Guo and Tianyi Sun along with other two colleagues from Harvard University. The report published in Nature Communications describes the material in question as being composed of gold nanomesh electrodes, providing a very good level of electrical conductivity, as well as transparency and flexibility. Besides this, the material could prove to be specifically useful for  biomedical applications since the gold nanomesh electrodes,  made by lithography, only increases slightly the resistance even at a strain of 160 per cent.

Zhifeng Ren. Credit: University of Houston

Contrary to silver or copper, this material doesn’t oxidize as easily, so there isn’t a drop in electrical conductivity once its in operation with a medical device. The material is also the first one to use grain boundary lithography.

‘It is much more transportable’ , is what Guo concluded about the material, while the Korean phone company Samsung already demonstrated a device with a bendable screen in October and LG Electronics  introduced a curved phone that’s on the Asian market already for the mass distribution.

Ren notes, however, that even these gold nanomeshes broke and the material’s electrical resistance increased when it was stretched, although its conductivity resumed when it was returned to the initial dimensions. This observation was false when tested on silver, mainly because of the high oxidation.

share Share

Could This Saliva Test Catch Deadly Prostate Cancer Early?

Researchers say new genetic test detects aggressive cancers that PSA and MRIs often miss

This living fungus-based building material can repair itself over a month

It's not ready to replace cement just yet, but it's really promising.

This Tree Survives Lightning Strikes—and Uses Them to Kill Its Rivals

This rainforest giant thrives when its rivals burn

Engineers Made a Hologram You Can Actually Touch and It Feels Unreal

Users can grasp and manipulate 3D graphics in mid-air.

Musk's DOGE Fires Federal Office That Regulates Tesla's Self-Driving Cars

Mass firings hit regulators overseeing self-driving cars. How convenient.

A Rare 'Micromoon' Is Rising This Weekend and Most People Won’t Notice

Watch out for this weekend's full moon that's a little dimmer, a little smaller — and steeped in seasonal lore.

Climate Change Could Slash Personal Wealth by 40%, New Research Warns

Global warming’s economic toll may be nearly four times worse than once believed

Kawasaki Unveils a Rideable Robot Horse That Runs on Hydrogen and Moves Like an Animal

Four-legged robot rides into the hydrogen-powered future, one gallop at a time.

Future Windows Could Be Made of Wood, Rice, and Egg Whites

Simple materials could turn wood into a greener glass alternative.

Scientists Just Made Cement 17x Tougher — By Looking at Seashells

Cement is a carbon monster — but scientists are taking a cue from seashells to make it tougher, safer, and greener.