---
title: "What electronics things are made of"
description: "9 electronics objects broken down component by component, with the reason behind each material choice."
url: https://atoneplace.net/made-of/technology/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Electronics — what they are made of

9 electronics objects, broken down.

| Object | Made of |
| --- | --- |
| Alkaline battery | Zinc powder and manganese dioxide either side of a potassium hydroxide paste, in a steel can. |
| Smartphone screen | Chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass over a touch layer and an OLED or LCD panel, with an oil-shedding coating on top. |
| Solar panel | Doped silicon wafers with silver contacts, sealed between low-iron glass and a plastic backsheet in an aluminium frame. |
| LED bulb | Blue LED chips under a yellow phosphor, plus a driver circuit and a heat sink — and it is the driver that dies. |
| Touchscreen | A grid of transparent electrodes measuring the tiny capacitance your finger adds — which is why gloves fail. |
| Computer keyboard | ABS or PBT keycaps over either a silicone rubber dome on printed film, or individual mechanical switches. |
| Headphones | A neodymium magnet, a coil of copper wire and a thin plastic diaphragm — a loudspeaker shrunk to fit an ear. |
| Loudspeaker | A paper or plastic cone hung on a rubber surround, driven by a coil in a magnet gap. |
| Computer mouse | An ABS shell around a tiny camera taking thousands of pictures a second, plus two clicky microswitches and PTFE feet. |

- [Alkaline battery](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/alkaline-battery/) — Zinc powder and manganese dioxide either side of a potassium hydroxide paste, in a steel can.
- [Smartphone screen](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/smartphone-screen/) — Chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass over a touch layer and an OLED or LCD panel, with an oil-shedding coating on top.
- [Solar panel](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/solar-panel/) — Doped silicon wafers with silver contacts, sealed between low-iron glass and a plastic backsheet in an aluminium frame.
- [LED bulb](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/led-bulb/) — Blue LED chips under a yellow phosphor, plus a driver circuit and a heat sink — and it is the driver that dies.
- [Touchscreen](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/touchscreen/) — A grid of transparent electrodes measuring the tiny capacitance your finger adds — which is why gloves fail.
- [Computer keyboard](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/keyboard/) — ABS or PBT keycaps over either a silicone rubber dome on printed film, or individual mechanical switches.
- [Headphones](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/headphone/) — A neodymium magnet, a coil of copper wire and a thin plastic diaphragm — a loudspeaker shrunk to fit an ear.
- [Loudspeaker](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/speaker/) — A paper or plastic cone hung on a rubber surround, driven by a coil in a magnet gap.
- [Computer mouse](https://atoneplace.net/made-of/computer-mouse/) — An ABS shell around a tiny camera taking thousands of pictures a second, plus two clicky microswitches and PTFE feet.