Discovery of new material that can be made like a plastic but conducts like metal

New research published in Nature shows the great discovery made by scientists. It tells about a kind of material in which even after jumbling and disordering the molecular fragments, it can still conduct electricity extremely well.

Keywords: electricity, materials, conductors, metals, doping, atoms, nickel, layers

John Anderson, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago and the senior author of the study said, "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". Jiaze Xie (PhD'22, now at Princeton), the first author of the paper said, "Essentially, it suggests new possibilities for an extremely important technological group of materials".

There isn't a solid theory to explain this outcome. But researchers have surely added one more successful study to their books. 

We are known of the fact that conducting materials are the most important factor in the making of various electronic devices such as an iPhone, solar panels, or a television. To date, the largest and oldest group of conductors is the metals. It includes:

• Copper
• Gold
• Aluminum  

Around 50 years ago, our great scientists discovered a way to create conductors that were made out of organic materials. This way is known as a chemical treatment "doping". It sprinkles in different atoms or electrons through the material. There are various relevant advantages of this method such as it is easier to process and is more flexible compared to traditional metals. But, everything is not always perfect. It has the drawback of not being stable i.e. these materials are more prone to lose their conductivity when exposed to moisture or high temperature. 

There is a similarity between both organic and traditional metallic conductors i.e. they are made up of straight, closely packed rows of atoms or molecules. This indicates that electrons can easily flow through the material. There was a myth among scientists that materials had to have straight, orderly rows to conduct electricity efficiently.

Scientists Xie began experimenting with the materials that were discovered years ago. He began testing by stringing nickel atoms like pearls into a string of molecular beads. These beads were made up of carbon and sulfur. Highly surprising for the scientists, the material was able to strongly conduct electricity. Also, it was very stable. Scientist Xie informed that even after heating it, chilling it, exposing it to air and humidity, and even dripping acid and base on it, nothing happened to it. 

The advantages of this new material are:

• It can be made at room temperature.
• It can also be used where the need for a device or pieces of the device to withstand heat, acid or alkalinity, or humidity.
• Enormously helpful for a device that has to function in the real world.
  

The molecular structure of the material was disordered. Scientist Anderson said, "From a fundamental picture, that should not be able to be a metal. There isn't a solid theory to explain this". The scientists worked and discussed this with various other scientists around the university for understanding the reason behind the conductivity of this material. According to them, the material forms layers, like sheets in a Lasagna. 

The ultimate result is unprecedented for a conductive material. Scientist Anderson said, "It's almost like conductive Play-Doh -- you can smush it into place and it conducts electricity". 

Thus, this research has surely designed a new principle for electronics technology.