Touchscreens, while seemingly miraculous, are, in real life, just a wafer-thin electrode under the glass surface of a display made of indium-tin-oxide (ITO). ITO is perfect for use in touchscreens because it is excellent at conducting slight currents and lets the colors of the display pass through unhindered. The problem? Indium is considered a “strategic metal” because there are very few deposits anywhere in the world, and manufacturers of electronic gadgets are afraid they will be dependent upon the prices set by suppliers. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Germany, have succeeded in developing a new material for electrodes that is on the same level as ITO, while also being much cheaper. The new material is comprised of carbon nanotubes and low-cost polymers. The research team will be presenting their carbon touchdisplay at the 2011 Nano Tech Fair. Ivica Kolaric, project manager, says the foil they’ve developed is flexible and could be used in a variety of ways, including for photovoltaics that could line corrugated roofs or other uneven structures. The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/f-tmo012711.php