Breakthrough Conductive Nail Polish Turns Fingernails Into Touchscreen Styluses

A chemistry student wanted her long fingernails to work with a touchscreen, so she developed a clear, conductive nail polish to solve the problem.

This idea comes from the mind of Manasi Desai, a chemistry student at Centenary College of Louisiana, and her advisor, Joshua Lawrence. Most touch-based devices, including phones and tablets, rely on capacitive touch. These screens project an electrostatic field that is disrupted when a conductive object, typically a fleshy fingertip, touches the surface. However, for those sporting long fingernails or acrylics (both of which are natural insulators), manipulating touchscreens often means using the side of fingers at awkward angles.

Thus, Desai spent months experimenting with over 50 different additives mixed into 13 varieties of commercial clear-coat polish. While previous attempts by other scientists utilized carbon nanotubes or metallic particles to create conductivity, those formulas often resulted in dark, opaque, or gritty finishes that lacked cosmetic appeal ...