LONDON – British scientists have developed an unbreakable touchscreen for smartphones that won’t crack when you drop it.
The new technology – at a fifth of the cost of current touchscreens – could reduce the prices of phones, TVs and tablets.
Currently electrodes (electrical conductors) in touchscreens are made from indium tin oxide (ITO), a rare and expensive metal. But indium supplies are running out, leading scientists to hunt for a new material.
Physicists at the University of Sussex, working with Oxford-based microelectrics firm M-Solv, were able to create hybrid electrodes from silver nanowires and graphene. Silver nanowire is 1/10,000 the width of a human hair, while graphene is the thinnest material on earth.
They form a transparent material that is highly flexible, making it resistant to cracks and breaks, the journal Nanoscale reports.
It also conducts electricity better than ITO. And at around £8 a square metre, silver nanowires and graphene is far cheaper than ITO, which costs £40 per square metre.
The new technology is likely to be rolled out on mobiles as early as 2018.
