The performance of an object that has been dependent upon whether the object is composed of a conductive or a nonconductive material. Conductors are materials that allow electrons to flow freely from ...

University of Cambridge researchers have discovered that a material already known for its peculiar electrical properties appears to behave as both a conductor and an insulator at the same time. This ...

Cambridge researchers have identified a material that behaves as both a conductor and an insulator. The material, samarium hexaboride (SmB6), acts like an insulator in certain measurements, but ...

Carbyne, which is made of carbon atoms, can change from conductor to insulator on application of some mechanical force. A little stretch is all it takes to turn the world's strongest material from a ...

More efficient computers and other devices often begin with new materials. One promising option is vanadium dioxide, which rapidly transforms from an insulator to a conductor in femtoseconds.

The electronic energy states allowed by quantum mechanics determine whether a solid is an insulator or whether it conducts electric current as a metal. Researchers have now theoretically predicted a ...

Diamond is an effective electrical insulator, but that might not always be the case according to a new study from MIT and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore. The team has calculated that ...

You’ve heard all about the wonder properties of graphene, so come meet its one dimensional cousin, carbyne. A chain of single carbon atoms to graphene’s two-dimensional layer of atoms, carbyne has ...

We’re surrounded by electrically powered devices these days. From our lights, to our kettles, and of course our phones! Electricity flows through copper or aluminium wire to power or charge all of ...