What if an insulator is converted into a heat conducting element? The answer is that it would be more than just a matter of surprise!

Something on the similar lines has been done by the scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They have used polyethylene, the most commonly available plastic, to conduct heat.

Similar to a metal that conducts heat in several directions simultaneously, this methodology also involves dissipation of heat in one aligned direction with great efficiency.

At present, polyethylene is used primarily in items such as shopping bags, pipes and household items. However, with this advancement, it could lead to manufacturing of computer chips, heat exchangers and electronics with the same.

The innovation also sparks hope in a direction which leads to crafting of new electronic devices. They can also be implanted in the human body for future biological experiments.

According to MIT, "The key to the transformation was getting all the polymer molecules to line up the same way, rather than forming a chaotic tangled mass, as they normally do".

The research leader, Gang Chen, concluded by stating that the new polymer formed was about 300 times more thermally conductive than the regular polyethylene.