Conducting plastic gets flexible

A researcher at The University of Texas at Austin has modified a plastic so its ability to carry an electrical current can be altered during manufacturing to meet the needs of future electronic devices.

Dr Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, studied the plastic called polyaniline because it could serve as flexible, inexpensive wiring in future products such as military camouflage that changes colour, foldable electronic displays and medical sensors.

By combining polyaniline with a chemical that gives it conductivity, Loo discovered she could increase the plastic’s conductivity one- to six-fold based on the version of the chemical added.

Chemically altered polyaniline has several advantages over the more commonly used metals, like gold and copper, in devices other than computers. For example, Loo’s previous research has demonstrated that ‘doped’ polyaniline can be manufactured in solution at room temperatures and without vacuum chambers. Producing metal-based wires requires special manufacturing conditions in addition to the high cost of the metals.