Issue (WIWE) status: Submitted, Unpublished

Weak Signal's progress: Fully-fledged

This Weak Signal came from: 
European Commission Framework Programme for RTD

The theme/scheme related to this Weak Signal: 
Theme 4 - Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials & new production technologies

The sub-theme that best relates to this Weak Signal: 
Knowledge-based smart materials with tailored properties

When did the Weak Signal manifest ? 
2005-now

Weak Signal's description: 

Chemists have perfected a simple way to manufacture inexpensive copper nanowires in great quantities that are so small they are transparent. Applications could clearly be in thin-film solar cells, TVs, computers and other flexible displays. Copper can be used to make a film of nanowires that is both transparent and conductive and this is a material that is abundant in the earth's crust and doesn't take much energy to extract. Silver nanowires also perform well as a transparent conductor, but silver is rare and expensive. Attempts have been made to improve the performance of carbon nanotubes as a transparent conductor, but without much luck, and the fact that copper nanowires are cheaper and work better makes them a very promising material to solve this problem.