Plastic fantastic for Nobel Prize winner

Alan MacDiarmid's research is so well-respected these days that few would ever think to questions its validity. But more than 20 years ago, when the Nobel Prize-winning Penn Chemistry professor and his collaborators determined that plastic could conduct electricity, they received quite a different reaction. "People did not believe us," MacDiarmid recalled. At the time, the field of "synthetic metals" -- or plastics that conduct electricity like metals -- was, MacDiarmid says, a veritable "no man's land." "It did not belong to pure chemistry or pure physics," MacDiarmid said. In fact, he took a novel interdisciplinary approach by combining the two different sciences. But the New Zealander gets the last laugh in this case, for his award has recognized him as one of the leading contemporary scientists in the world. To this day, a month after having won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, MacDiarmid's phone rings off the hook and his office is flooded with cards and faxes from from well-wishers both locally and from overseas. His findings questioned the fundamental properties of matter, basic principles that have been accepted since electricity was first discovered. How could a plastic behave like a metal? What MacDiarmid set out discovering -- a process known as "doping" in the science world -- was a way to allow plastics of a certain structure to conduct electricity. This chemical process adds or subtracts electrons from the plastic, which then permits a flow of electrons -- or electric current -- to move through the plastic. So does this mean that any old piece of plastic -- a ruler from your desk, for instance -- can conduct electricity? Hardly. Only about a dozen plastics in existence have the right structure to be altered to conduct electricity, but more are being found every year. Currently, MacDiarmid, who has been teaching at Penn since 1955, is adapting these synthetic metals for "throw away paper/plastic electronics." And those who try to use their cell phones in dark movie theaters will be happy to know that help is on the way. According to MacDiarmid, cell phones will soon be marketed with buttons made of conducting polymers, which light up in the dark without draining the battery. MacDiarmid is working with Penn's Center for Technology Transfer to start a company to produce plastic chips more cheaply than does their current manufacturer, Phillips. Through the CTT, MacDiarmid said Penn will "bring new knowledge into useful aspects of people's lives." In light of all the practical applications of "synthetic metals" -- such as cell phones and plastic chips -- it may be hard to believe the initial response that MacDiarmid and his colleagues received. In time, as other researchers corroborated their data, the team became recognized as the co-discoverers of the field of "synthetic metals," culminating in a Nobel Prize more than 20 years after the work began. Even though it took so many years for him to earn recognition for his discovery, MacDiarmid said he didn't mind the wait. "The Nobel committee very wisely takes a lot of time to make sure what these people have to say is correct," he said. But did he ever imagine winning the most prestigious prize? "It never entered my mind."