Researchers have developed a new material with physical properties similar to Silicon, but with improved chemical stability, lightness and flexibility
While smartphones may have gotten more beautiful to look at, they have become increasingly fragile. However the discovery of a new ‘miracle material’ may end the fear of cracking our devices. Phys.org reports that Dr. Elton Santos from Queen’s University’s School of Mathematics and Physics and his team have been working to create new dynamic hybrid devices that are able to conduct electricity at ‘unprecedented’ speeds, and are light, durable and easy to manufacture in large scale semiconductor plants. The teams noted that combining semiconducting molecules C60 with layered materials like graphene and hBN, they produced a unique material.
The hBN would offer stability, electronic compatibility, and isolation charge to graphene, while the C60 can convert sunlight into electricity. The report notes that devices made using the combination would benefit from a mix of these features, which do not exist in materials naturally.
Dr. Santos said, “our findings show that this new 'miracle material' has similar physical properties to Silicon but it has improved chemical stability, lightness and flexibility, which could potentially be used in smart devices and would be much less likely to break. The material also could mean that devices use less energy than before because of the device architecture so could have improved battery life and less electric shocks.”
However, there is still one issue that need to be solved. The new material is reportedly lacking a ‘band-gap’, which is key to the on-off switching operations performed by devices. However, the researchers are already looking for a potential solution in the form of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs). These material are chemically stable, have large sources for production and have band gaps that rival Silicon.
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