Work by Dutch and German researchers has resulted in plastic that can conduct electricity as well as today's silicon-based semiconductors, a breakthrough that could make mobile devices sturdier.
Paulette Prins , a Ph.D student at Delft University of Technology, has demonstrated through use of a particle accelerator and microwave absorbation measurements that polymers specially developed by German researchers can conduct electricity a thousand times better than typical plastics. In building their polymers, the researchers addressed slowdowns stemming from the formation of chains in earlier polymers.
Prins has published findings in the journal Physical Review Letters . Her work was funded by a Netherlands research outfit.