Not-So Silly Putty

NAOISE CULHANE/AMBER, TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

NEW PUTTY: Coleman (left) shows off the graphene-enhanced putty.

Scientists have found a new use for an old toy. They’ve mixed graphene, a form of carbon (C) that can conduct electricity, with Silly Putty—a stretchy, moldable substance. The result: an extremely sensitive material that can measure a person’s pulse.

COURTESY OF CRAYOLA

SILLY PUTTY: The original toy can bounce like a solid or flow like a liquid.

The enhanced putty is slightly stiffer than regular Silly Putty, says Jonathan Coleman, a physicist at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and lead scientist on the project. But the most important difference is visible when Coleman’s team connects the graphene-putty mixture to a battery. Pressing on the substance the slightest bit measurably changes the amount of electricity flowing through it. When placed on the skin, the material can detect a person’s heartbeat.

Coleman says the putty could eventually be used in medical devices to measure people’s pulse and blood pressure. “Continuously monitoring blood pressure isn’t an easy thing to do,” he says. “This may be a simple and cheap way.”

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