Mark Megahan
If researchers in the Chemistry department at the University of Chicago aren’t science fiction fans they should be. They just proved one of the famous observations of Robert Heinlein’s character Lazarus Long. “Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it.” The experts say only metallic materials can conduct electricity because it requires a highly ordered molecular structure. Jiaze Xie and John Anderson did what can’t be done and came up with “electric Play-Doh.”
Researchers shocked by discovery
Researchers created a material which should not be able to do what it does. A plastic substance which “easily and strongly conducted electricity.” If that wasn’t awesome enough, things only got better as they tested performance characteristics.
Their miracle creation is incredibly stable. “We heated it, chilled it, exposed it to air and humidity, and even dripped acid and base on it, and nothing happened.” That Dr. Xie declares, “is enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world.”
Researchers thoroughly indoctrinated in the dogma of chemistry have a hard time getting their heads around it. What they are seeing in action simply shouldn’t be possible. Everything the experts know about physical chemistry says that the molecular structure is far too disordered to conduct current.
“From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal,” said Dr. Anderson. “There isn’t a solid theory to explain this.” It still isn’t a “metal” it just acts like one.
The pair of docs were baffled by the paradox. Along with the rest of the lab crew, the researchers “worked with other scientists around the university to try to understand how the material can conduct electricity.”
They did a whole bunch of “tests, simulations, and theoretical work.” When they got done, they came up with a working concept to test further.
Layered like lasagna
For now, the researchers believe that the impossible properties of electrical conductivity come from the way their material forms into layers, “like sheets in a lasagna.” Even if you bend or twist it, when “the sheets rotate sideways, no longer forming a neat lasagna stack, electrons can still move horizontally or vertically—as long as the pieces touch.”
They’re so amazed by the stuff nobody can get it out of their hands. “It’s almost like conductive Play-Doh. You can smush it into place and it conducts electricity,” Dr. Anderson grins.
Even though they aren’t totally certain they understand exactly how it works, the whole team of researchers is excited about all the possibilities which have been unlocked for future exploration.
In today’s portable and wearable technology world, their discovery “suggests a fundamentally new design principle for electronics technology.” Because this is an entirely new development, it “opens up new lines for technology.”
One of the things that really gets the team of researchers going are the characteristics of their material which offer new options to manufacturers.
“For example, metals usually have to be melted in order to be made into the right shape for a chip or device, which limits what you can make with them.” This material can be made at room temperatures, then withstand heat, acid, alkalinity, and humidity. It can even stand being sat on in a back pocket, as your cell phone can’t do today.
