Friday, 28 January 2011

Touch screens made of Carbon

At the moment touch screens are everywhere: Phones storage devices such as iPods, computer screens. The future seems to belong to touch screens. However there are problems. At the moment the material that is used to make touch screens is indium-tin-oxide, ITO, a rare material on earth. Manufacturers are afraid that in the future prices could be artificially driven high by suppliers, or that supplies might even run out.
ITO is the perfect material for the job. It is good at conducting slight electric currents but at the same time it lets the light of the display pass through unhindered.

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have now come up with a material that is much cheaper while being on a level with the properties of  ITO. It is composed of two layers. One is the carrier, a thin foil made of the inexpensive polymer  polyethylenterephthalate PET which is also used for making plastic bottles. The second one is a mixture of carbon-nanotubes and electrically conducting polymers that is applied to the PET as a solution and forms a thin film when it dries.

(Credit: Copyright Fraunhofer IPA)

In the past these materials have been unstable in UV light or in humidity, but adding carbon-nanotubes has improved stability and made the material durable. Although they have a slightly higher resistance than traditional touch screens they are still perfectly usable in electrical devices. Also due to the fact that the touch-"foil" is flexible it could potentially be used on uneven surfaces.

The new technology will be presented at the nano tech 2011 fair in Tokyo from February 16-18.
Posted by Rondariel at 22:35
Labels: , ,

14 comments:

  1. Isaac29 January 2011 at 21:52

    B*tches don't know about my carbon nanotubes. Followed

    ReplyDelete
  2. Evan29 January 2011 at 23:44

    Touch screens have always interested me. I cant wait for the day that touch screens are implimented in resteraunts and other places.

    following and supporting.
    http://www.ducks2nucks.blogspot.com
    http://www.evanztories.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. More Ducks29 January 2011 at 23:48

    this sounds sweet. Now if only these devices were a little cheaper.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Killuvogel30 January 2011 at 00:18

    Wow really interessing man!


    Viewed and followed!

    http://killuvogel.blogspot.com/
    http://killusmusiclair.blogspot.com/
    http://killunewsflash.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. MMAX30 January 2011 at 00:35

    Interesting how touch screens are evolving so fast

    ReplyDelete
  6. Deadeth30 January 2011 at 01:10

    oh shit! quite interesting, the US military has just invented some "Pip-boy" like device for soldiers to use, saw it out there somewhere, may be worth a look, following and check: http://PCReviewist.com daily for news and updates :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous30 January 2011 at 01:57

    I saw something about this before, it's cool stuff.

    snaztoday.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Poetry of the Day30 January 2011 at 03:03

    wonderful <3

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chris30 January 2011 at 03:20

    Wow, interesting. Thanks for pointing this out. Followed

    ReplyDelete
  10. Con Queso30 January 2011 at 10:52

    Very nice, hopefully it'll help with the strain of demand on ITO

    ReplyDelete
  11. teampl4yer30 January 2011 at 18:36

    the tech of the future is gonna be amazing!! cant wait for the future **somewhat** great post sir!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brandon30 January 2011 at 22:54

    This is pretty interesting. I'd like to see some touch screens that can cover non-regular surfaces. I wonder how responsive the screens are though. Current screen technology seems to cover a wide gamut of responsiveness. Screens like those in many phones seem to work real well however most of the larger touchscreens I've seen tend to be on the sluggish side.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kyle31 January 2011 at 18:16

    It is no surprise that work on one atom thick plates of 'honeycomb' carbon won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics; the implications are phenomenal.

    One step closer to full-blown nanotech and a brand spankin' new global economy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous1 February 2011 at 20:23

    I get super giddy thinking about future technology sometimes... love your blog :D

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)