Using a commercial inkjet printer, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found out a method of printing patterns of carbon nanotubes on paper and plastic. The process involved filling off the shelf ink cartridges with a water based liquid containing nanotubes. The technique was developed along with researchers at the University of Oulu in Finland.
What made this possible was that carbon nanotubes have the ability to conduct electricity and it is made up of latticework of carbon molecules which align themselves into cylindrical structures which are about fifty thousand times smaller than a human hair.
This is what Robert Vajtai, RPI researcher who authored the paper had to say:
Some potential applications based on their electrical conductivity include flexible electronics for displays, antennas, and batteries that can be integrated into paper or cloth.
