By: Inspenet, November 2, 2022
Scientists at the University of Chicago in the United States have developed a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity like a metal.
The research, published in the journal Nature, shows how to make a type of material in which the molecular fragments are mixed up and out of order, but which can still conduct electricity extremely well.
According to the researchers, this goes against all known rules about conductivity and could be extraordinarily useful.
“In principle, this opens up the design of a whole new class of materials that conduct electricity, are easy to mold, and are very robust under everyday conditions,” explains John Anderson, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago and lead author of the study. study. “Essentially, it suggests new possibilities for a group of materials of great technological importance,” adds Jiaze Xie, a Ph.D. now at Princeton and first author of the work.
Xie began experimenting with some materials discovered years ago, placing nickel atoms in a molecular chain made of carbon and sulfur, and began testing. To the amazement of scientists, the material conducted electricity easily and strongly. Also, it was very stable.
The end result is unprecedented in a conductive material. “It’s almost like conductive putty: you can squish it into place and it conducts electricity,” says Anderson. Scientists are excited because the discovery suggests a fundamentally new design principle for electronic technology.
This material from the puranoticia.com portal was edited for clarity, style and length.
Photo : John Zich/University of Chicago
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