Polymer film process holds promise for clinical laboratory IT solutions

Clinical laboratory IT solutions could finally make use of conducting polymers thanks to a process being developed at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA).

Scientists at the university are investigating how polymer nanofibres allow oil and water to mix.

This in turn creates a polymer film that can coat surfaces of almost any kind and delivers strength, flexibility and electrical conductance.

Previous difficulty in processing conducting polymers into films have prevented their widespread uptake in applications such as clinical laboratory IT solutions.

But Yang Yang, professor of materials science and engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, says: "Conducting polymers have enormous potential in electronics and, because this technique works with so many substrates, it can be used in a broad spectrum of applications."

The research is based at the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute, or CNSI, which provides a bridge between university and industry research to develop solutions with rapid commercialisation potential.