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Shatterproof Phone Screens Coming Soon
Tired of living with that cracked (okay, shattered) smartphone screen? University of Akron researchers may have the answer.
(Shatterproof smartphone display)
[Yu Zhu, assistant professor of polymer science at University of Akron] and his team found that that a transparent layer of electrodes on a polymer surface helps boost surface toughness and flexibility...Study data revealed that the novel film retained its shape and functionality after being bent over 1,000 times. Researchers believe that the latest invention could be produced in cheap, mass-quantity rolls.
"We expect this film to emerge on the market as a true [indium tin oxide] competitor," Zhu says. "The annoying problem of cracked smart phone screens may be solved once and for all with this flexible touch screen."
Fans of sf writer Clifford Simak recall the transparent special coating used to protect the galactic transit station in his 1963 classic Way Station:
It was as if the knob was covered with some hard, slick coating, like a coat of brittle ice, on which the fingers slipped without exerting any pressure on the knob...There was something covering this house which made it slick and smooth - so smooth that dust could not cling upon its surface nor could weather stain it.
He pounded the clapboard with his fist, and it was like the pounding of a rock...
(Read more about the tough, transparent coating from Way Station)
Via MDConnects.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/8/2014)
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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