

Their transparent, conductive plastic consists of the very fine silver and plastic layer, which also features small amounts of copper and measures just 6.5 nanometers thick. Through a careful mix of metals and multilayered materials, the researchers believe they may have addressed this shortcoming. One way to improve the light transmission of plastics is by applying anti-reflective coatings, but these don’t typically carry conductive properties. The team had previously demonstrated how a very fine layer of silver could be added to a plastic sheet to make it conductive, though this came at a cost, reducing its transmission of light by around 10 percent. The new material was developed by electrical and computer engineers at University of Michigan, and builds on their earlier work in the area. Two of the six oxygen atoms of the octahedrons are replaced.

The basic structural element of micas is a three-layer unit consisting of two tetrahedral layers of AlSi 3 O 10 separated by an octahedral layer of R 2 cations. But scientists have long hoped to flip the script by adding other materials to give plastic conductive properties, and one team of researchers has now put forward a promising possibility it's hoped could find uses in large touchscreens or window-mounted solar cells. any of a group of aluminosilicate minerals with a laminar structure and the general formula R 1 R 2-3 AlSi 3 O 10(OH,F) 2, where R 1 K or Na and R 2 Al, Mg, Fe or Li. Traditional plastics are so poor at conducting electricity that they are often used to insulate against it instead, making it the shielding material of choice for things like wiring and circuit boards.
