Discharge plastic

Mobile phones will be as thin as bank cards, and computer monitors can be rolled up like newspapers thanks to the birth of a new material.

Natasha Shirshova, a member of the research team, photographed the same plastic discharge. Photo by David Paker.

Dr Emile Greenhalgh, an expert with the Department of Aviation at London's University of Experimental Medicine, says he and his colleagues have succeeded in making resin electric. It's not really a type of battery, but a double-layer electrolytic capacitor - like the ones we see in electrical circuits.

The sample of the Greenhalgh group is a thin plastic sheet of about 13 cm square and is capable of charging from conventional sources. It is made up of two layers of carbon fiber. These two layers are coated with conductive resins. In the middle of the two layers there is a layer of fiber. When electricity flows through the plastic, electrons travel from one layer of carbon to the fiber and then to the other. The move will produce positive and negative poles.

The test showed that after charging enough electricity, a plastic sheet lit a LED light for 20 minutes.

Volvo Motor Co. donated $ 4.2 million to Dr. Greenhalgh's research project. Its goal is to create new power for cars running both gasoline and electricity.

"We think future cars can get electricity from the roof or the door thanks to the resins we make ," Greenhalgh said.

Greenhalgh claims that the new plastic is faster than traditional batteries and does not use chemicals, so it has a longer lifespan.

The research team wants to use it to replace the floor and the luggage compartment of Volvo-built vehicles. If they succeed, Volvo could shrink the size of the battery in hybrid cars and reduce the weight of the car. The smaller the weight, the less fuel the vehicle consumes per km.

The applications for electrically charged plastic do not stop there. According to Greenhalghe, in the future we can buy thin mobile phones like credit cards because they do not need batteries anymore. The laptops will work longer now because they are capable of taking power from the case. Companies can also make computer screens as thin as paper and users can roll them and carry them.

'No one has created a material like that. In 10 years it can replace traditional batteries , "Greenhalgh said.