Now, Prof Bert de With of the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and his colleagues have discovered a nano-structure solution to the problem.
Researchers have already become much better at understanding how the structure of new nano-engineered materials will behave, although the process remains largely one of trial and error because different samples have to be repeatedly manufactured and tested.
Following that tradition, the brainiacs over at the University of Reading have developed a new nano-material electrode coating based on the cellular structure of plants.