Scientists discover material that can be made like a plastic but conducts like a metal

The research, published Oct. 26 in Nature, shows how to make a kind of material in which the molecular fragments are jumbled and disordered, but can still conduct electricity extremely well. This goes against all of the rules we know about for conductivity—to a scientist, it's kind of like seeing a car driving on water and still going 70 mph. But the finding could also be extraordinarily useful; if you want to invent something revolutionary, the process often first starts with discovering a completely new material.

But to the scientists, the most striking thing was that the molecular structure of the material was disordered. "From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal," said Anderson. "There isn't a solid theory to explain this."

phys.org...

Very interesting. I see this leading to a whole new batch of previously unavailable "miracle" products, that can do things once not thought to be possible.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

I see this leading to a whole new batch of previously unavailable "miracle" products

With oil being needed to create plastic, that's going to conflict with the Green agenda.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Yep.. if this new material is affordable it could change the whole world.
If they can somehow convert waste materials into this stuff it would be a even better kick starter.
If not we will just be adding more junk and pollution creating this stuff.

So is it an insulator or a conductor?
Unfortunately I can see thus being used.. oh let's see, as an electrified fence, oh jeez, anything people may think is safe to touch. In my work, I am regularly around so.e pretty high voltage, 440volts or so..plastic caps protect many of the connectors.
I just see this as being used in a bad way.
I also see the good of this, but human nature.....

originally posted by: Spacespider

If they can somehow convert waste materials into this stuff it would be a even better kick starter.

And better yet would be non-toxic, not a carcinogen, and something nature can handle.

Kinda hate to put this stuff in everything, and 50 years later discover how bad it is...

This is really cool, thanks for sharing!

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Interesting, but the explanation on how it's made could use some work.

I'm going to try and find a more scientific explanation, because what they've described doesn't sound too groundbreaking for me and similar compounds have been made before.

This reads more like an attempt to get investors on board for funding.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

So like BoPET (mylar) which can be both insulative and conductive depending on the layers?

Using the date and Nature reference I've found this.

www.nature.com...

I'm going to read through it when I get a chance.

Here's another one from 2019 about self-healing conductive thermoplastics.

www.nature.com...

Here's a slightly less science-y article about plasric conductors.

www.swacable.com...

If anyone has issues getting past the Nature paywall let me know, and I'll try and get the content for you.

originally posted by: AutomateThis1v2
Using the date and Nature reference I've found this.

www.nature.com...

I'm going to read through it when I get a chance.

Here's another one from 2019 about self-healing conductive thermoplastics.

www.nature.com...

Here's a slightly less science-y article about plasric conductors.

www.swacable.com...

If anyone has issues getting past the Nature paywall let me know, and I'll try and get the content for you.

a portion of the article.

Composite plastic conductors
In composite plastic conductors, the plastic itself is not electrically conductive. It only acts as a binder. Conductivity is obtained by mixing conductive substances such as carbon black and metal powders. These conductive substances (sustancias conductores) are known as conductive charges. Silver powder and carbon black are the most commonly used. They play a role in providing carriers in composite plastic conductor. Composite plastic conductors are easy to prepare and have a high degree of practicality. These materials are often used in switches, pressure sensitive components, connectors, electromagnetic shielding, resistors and solar cells.

The use of plastic conductor in applications such as anti-static additives, anti-electromagnetic computer screens and smart windows has developed rapidly. And there is also a wide range of promising applications in light-emitting diodes, solar cells, cell phones, miniature TV screens and even life science research. In addition, the combination of plastic conductors and nanotechnology will also help to promote the rapid development of molecular electronics. In the future, humans will not only be able to greatly increase the speed of computers, but also to reduce their size. As a result, it has been predicted that the laptop of the future could fit in a watch.

interesting.

i wonder how a watch sized lap top will be useful .

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: TrueAmerican

I see this leading to a whole new batch of previously unavailable "miracle" products

With oil being needed to create plastic, that's going to conflict with the Green agenda.

My first thought,as well.

I believe,many of these "green activists" don't realize how many products in the world are actually made with oil.

This could be a game changer,though.

Sounds interesting but they say it can be molded like plastic does that mean it is plastic? or just plastic-like? Later they compare it to Play Doh which is cool in itself but Play Doh it water based whereas plastic is oil based, or am I totally off base

a reply to: putnam6

I think the writer is either dumbing it down for the average reader or doesn't know how to explain it using metaphors that are more accurate.

The links I shared above go into the details a bit more.

originally posted by: crazyeddie68

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: TrueAmerican

I see this leading to a whole new batch of previously unavailable "miracle" products

With oil being needed to create plastic, that's going to conflict with the Green agenda.

My first thought,as well.

I believe,many of these "green activists" don't realize how many products in the world are actually made with oil.

This could be a game changer,though.

Green activists are either scammers, naive, or are secretly luddites trying to make a mockery out of people pushing for technology that isn't feasible yet.

a reply to: sarahvital

Probably just a new way of being tech savvy. I don't see it being any different than having a modern phone in one's pocket and bluetooth ear pieces and a pair of glasses that can display visual information.

The main drive behind it is cramming more power into a smaller, more portable device. That's why it's always big news when a new component comes out that can do more in a smaller package. There are more advantages than just consumer techwear.

Doing more with less saves space and weight. It's a big deal for the automotive, aerospace, and military/weapons industries.

There's more to it than that, but that's the gist of it.

We've gone from computers taking up an entire room, to being able to put a computer in our pocket or on our wrist in just a few decades. In my opinion I feel like the tech progression has kind of dragged on waiting for all these new advancements to get to a point where someone with the vision and opportunity can find a way to bring them together to get us rolling.

This is a bad analogy, but bear with me please. It's kind of like someone somwhere was trying to figure out how to make riding in a horse drawn carriage smoother and was focusing on the wheels and someone somewhere else was experimenting with rubber. Someone somewhere else in the world was experimenting with springs for something completely unrelated. Decades prior someone had made the first successful internal combustion engine, but it was huge. Fast forward and a few different people or a team of people had been competing and making breakthroughs in making the internal combustion engines more productive and smaller.

Someone somewhere else had been reading about all of these advancements and such and happened to either have the money or been able to acquire the funds and managed to contact the people involved or went on to create a new team to draw out plans and create the first internal combustion driven carriage with rubber wheels, a suspension system, and drew up a new rack and pinion system for steering. Then throughout the decades many more innovations led to modern cars.

That's a really bad example that absolutely warps actual history, but that's kind of what's happening.

These things such as what the thread is about isn't all that new. It's relatively new, but either there's no applicable use for it, no known way to make it useful, or is too costly or difficult to produce for enough people to be able to mess with it and not worry about breaking things or whatever.

So, it boils down to researchers and such who find themselves in positions that grant them the ability to mess with this stuff to play around with it and try and come up with stories about how useful it could be and it's potential to do this or that, so that people with more money than they know what to do with it will throw money at them to keep the lights on and fund research and paychecks.

In a few more decades we'll hopefully be seeing some cool stuff coming out if the greenies don't knock us back to the dark ages.

spam

a reply to: AutomateThis1v2



SPAMMING

originally posted by: crazyeddie68

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: TrueAmerican

I see this leading to a whole new batch of previously unavailable "miracle" products

With oil being needed to create plastic, that's going to conflict with the Green agenda.

My first thought,as well.

I believe,many of these "green activists" don't realize how many products in the world are actually made with oil.

This could be a game changer,though.

This will take a while to commercialize, if ever, but it is an interesting technology.
"Green activists," in general, are weak in many areas except empty rhetoric. They shout about climate change but never look at the historical data that shows the cycles of ice ages over many millennia. They do not consider that asphalt paving depends on continued use of petroleum and without that, concrete will have to be used releasing more of the CO2 that they worry about. We could shift back to coal as a feedstock but that thought would cause empty green heads to explode with thoughts of a CO2 apocalypse.

originally posted by: EternalShadow
a reply to: AutomateThis1v2

SPAMMING

How the hell am I spamming?