Overview

Researchers have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like plastic but conducts electricity extremely well, just like metals. It’s a discovery that seems to break the rules of conductivity, but one that could be extremely useful.

The science and other stuff to know

Conductive materials are of different forms, including metals and electrolytes. But across all of their differences, these materials share one characteristic: They are made up of atoms or molecules that run in straight, densely packed lines, a property that scientists thought was required to conduct electricity.

In a new study, however, scientists at the University of Chicago say they have created a new kind of material in which those fragments are “jumbled and disordered”. Interestingly, the material is still able to conduct electricity very well just like metal. The study is published in the journal Nature.

“From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal,” said senior author John Anderson, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, in a press release. “There isn’t a solid theory to explain this.”

The new material can withstand being bent around, squashed, and formed into a variety of different formations, and still conduct electricity. The researchers liken it to “conductive Play-Doh”, in that it can be shaped in various ways and will still allow electricity to flow through it.

So what?

What is the significance of new conductive material when metals are already great conductors? Well, metals require an arduous process of melting and forming to be made into desired shapes for production. This new material, however, can be made with relative ease at room temperatures, opening the door for new design principles for electronics

“In principle, this opens up the design of a whole new class of materials that conduct electricity, are easy to shape, and are very robust in everyday conditions,” said Anderson, in the press release.

Similarly, the material’s ability to withstand humidity, heat or extreme acidity, or alkalinity means that it could be used to create devices that can work in conditions where traditional materials would be destroyed.

“We heated it, chilled it, exposed it to air and humidity, and even dripped acid and base on it. And nothing happened,” said Jiaze Xie, the first author of the paper. “That is enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world.”

What’s next?

The team is exploring different forms and functions the material might make. “We think we can make it 2-D or 3-D, make it porous, or even introduce other functions by adding different linkers or nodes,” said Xie.