Science & Technology - Posted by firstname.lastname@example.org
on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 10:00 - 3 Comments Plastics technology
lets the sun in—for less PRINCETON (US) —Mounting concerns about
global warming and energy demand could be addressed by a new
technique for producing electricity—conducting plastics that may
dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels. By
overcoming technical hurdles to producing plastics that are
translucent, malleable and able to conduct electricity, the
researchers have opened the door to broader use of the materials
in a wide range of electrical devices. “Conductive polymers
[plastics] have been around for a long time, but processing them
to make something useful degraded their ability to conduct
electricity,” explains Yueh-Lin Loo, associate professor of
chemical engineering at Princeton University. “We have figured
out how to avoid this trade-off. We can shape the plastics into
a useful form while maintaining high conductivity.” The area of
research, known as “or