How Coffee Stains Are Improving LCD's and Plasma TV's

Researches at the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences are researching ways to use spilled coffee to make new ultrathin coatings for LCD and plasma flat panel screens. In LCDs, transparent conductive coatings are used to form an electrode on the surface of the screen, while in plasma TVs they provide a shield that prevents electromagnetic fields from straying. The traditional techniques for making such coatings include sputtering a fine layer of indium tin oxide onto the surface. ITO is highly conductive and transparent to visible light, but the process is expensive, requiring clean rooms and vacuum chambers.

When coffee is spilled the evaporation process causes coffee particles to move to the edges of the spill which causes the circular stain. The coffee granules are being "assembled" by the varying evaporation and convection rates in the fluid. The researchers have figured out a way they can duplicate this process in a controlled environment and use the materials to form a nanoscale conductive coating.

Read more at NewScientist.com