Brazilian creates invisible material for smart technologies
Electronics
Technological Innovation Website Editorial Team - 08/08/2025
Luíza shows off her great achievement, a conductive polymer that has what it takes to power most devices we use today. [Image: La Trobe University]
2D hyaluronic acid
A Brazilian scientist currently working in Australia has synthesized a new, completely transparent electrically conductive material, an innovation with the potential to impact various technologies, from cell phones to wearable devices, including medical equipment.
Luíza Aguiar do Nascimento graduated in chemical engineering from the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys, and is currently pursuing a doctorate at La Trobe University.
The innovation involves directly using hyaluronic acid to create a very thin but also very durable film, the type used today to conduct electricity in devices such as touchscreens and biosensors.
Scientific knowledge until now was that, to create conductive polymers, substances such as hyaluronic acid, the same used in dermatological products, must be added to a mixture of water and polymer-forming particles.
But Luíza discovered that she doesn't need any of that: She just needs to place the hyaluronic acid itself on a metal surface - she used gold-plated surfaces - to create a much thinner, completely transparent, and very durable film.
The expectation is that the technique will lead to major improvements in the functionality and usability of devices, as well as a significant reduction in manufacturing costs.
"We were very excited to discover that not only did polymers form when we attached them directly to gold, but that these polymers are thinner, more strongly conductive, and almost foolproof to reproduce," Luíza said.
The manufacturing technique (top) is simpler than the one used today (bottom), and the material has advantages in terms of thickness and functionality. [Image: Luiza A. Nascimento et al. - 10.1021/acsami.5c06970]
Conductive polymers
Conductive polymers are synthetic materials widely used in everything from smart devices, from touchscreens to medical devices that regulate the dosage and delivery of medications to patients.
Applying hyaluronic acid directly to the metal substrate not only reduces the cost and simplifies the manufacturing process, but also allows for complete control over the material's conductive properties, shape, and even appearance.
"Conductive polymers as we know them were developed nearly 50 years ago, and while exciting, they haven't reached their full potential in that time. They are often difficult to manufacture, as thin films don't conduct electricity very well, aren't transparent, and can have highly variable properties," said Professor Wren Greene. "Through our method, called anchored dopant templating, we've created a robust way to manufacture a conductive polymer that is flexible, durable, can conduct electricity as well as metals, and is easily reproducible—and therefore scalable."
The new material, called PEDOT 2D, is invisible to the naked eye and far more powerful than similar materials, attributes that give it the potential to have a huge impact on the future of sensor-based smart devices.
Paper: A Scalable Synthetic Approach for Producing Homogeneous, Large Area 2D Highly Conductive Polymers
Authors: Luiza A. Nascimento, Kilian S. Fraysse, Kevin Krause, Cameron L. Bentley, Mingyu Han, Rosanne M. Guijt, Paul R. Stoddart, Simon Moulton, Saimon Moraes Silva, George W. GreeneRevista: ACS Applied Materials & InterfacesDOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c06970
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