U.S. scientists have created the first plastic that can conduct electricity without resistance, according to the published reports.

The breakthrough could lead to the creation of plastic components for a new generation of quantum mechanics-based, ultra-fast components, the Associated Press recently reported

“It opens new vistas for coming studies,” said Olle Inganas of

Linkoping University in Sweden in a prepared statement.

However, researchers who conducted the study at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., said practical uses for the plastic are a ways off. According to the researchers, superconducting properties are apparent only when the material is cooled to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 4 degrees above absolute zero.

In the experiment, researchers used a plastic called

Polythiophene and created a solution containing the polymer and sprayed it in a thin film onto a layer of aluminum oxide and gold. Electrons were pulled through the plastic without disruption by the electric field created by the metal mixture.

The results were published in the current issue of the journal

Nature.

Scientists at Bell Labs and other research centers are currently searching for other plastics that have superconducting properties at much warmer temperatures using similar methods.