Experimental Nail Polish Could Help People with Long Nails Use Touchscreens

The new formula disrupts a screen's electric field, allowing nails to register as touch.

Mar. 23, 2026 at 9:00am

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Researchers have developed an experimental nail polish that could allow people with long nails to use touchscreens. The polish contains additives like ethanolamine and taurine that disrupt the screen's electric field, enabling the nail to register as touch. While the formula isn't commercially viable yet, it represents a potential solution to a common inconvenience faced by those with long nails.

Why it matters

Touchscreens are ubiquitous, but they can be difficult to use for people with long nails, who must rely on the pads of their fingers rather than their nails. This experimental nail polish could provide a way for those with long nails to more easily interact with touchscreen devices.

The details

The researchers mixed several additives into clear nail polish, with two - ethanolamine and taurine - resulting in a formula that could activate touchscreens when held with tweezers. The team believes the additives use acid-base chemistry to shuffle protons and affect the screen's electric field enough to register as touch. However, the current formula doesn't leave enough of the additive on the nail to work effectively, so the researchers plan to focus on improving the performance in thin coats on fingernails.

  • The research findings were presented on March 23, 2026 at the American Chemical Society's spring meeting in Atlanta.

The players

Shuyi Sun

A computer scientist who has studied cosmetic biosensors and now works at the Association of California Nurse Leaders in Sacramento.

Manasi Desai

An undergraduate student studying chemistry and biology at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, who worked on the nail polish project.

Joshua Lawrence

An organometallic chemist who served as Desai's research advisor on the nail polish project.

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What they’re saying

“This is huge, because it shows that functional behavior can be embedded invisibly into everyday cosmetic materials.”

— Shuyi Sun, Computer Scientist

“It's really hard to use your phone.”

— Manasi Desai, Undergraduate Student

“One of our major goals was to make it clear and colorless, so that you could apply it over any manicure or even on your bare nails.”

— Manasi Desai, Undergraduate Student

What’s next

The researchers plan to focus on improving the formula's performance in thin coats on fingernails, possibly by getting more taurine into the polish.

The takeaway

This experimental nail polish represents a potential solution to a common inconvenience faced by those with long nails, who struggle to use touchscreen devices. While the formula isn't ready for commercial release yet, it demonstrates how functional capabilities can be embedded into everyday cosmetic products.