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A Biodegradable Printed Circuit

A Berkeley Lab-led research team has developed a fully recyclable and biodegradable printed circuit. The advance could divert wearable devices and other flexible electronics from landfills and mitigate the health and environmental hazards posed by heavy metal waste. Watch this video to learn more.

“When it comes to plastic e-waste, it’s easy to say it’s impossible to solve and walk away,” said senior author Ting Xu  , a faculty senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, and professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley. “But scientists are finding more evidence of significant health and environmental concerns caused by e-waste leaching into the soil and groundwater. With this study, we’re showing that even though you can’t solve the whole problem yet, you can at least tackle the problem of recovering heavy metals without polluting the environment.”

Topics:
Electronics Green Design & Manufacturing

More From SAE Media Group

    Transcript

    00:00:00 Researchers at Berkeley Lab have developed a biodegradable printed circuit. “Conductive ink” composed of biodegradable polyester binders, silver flakes, and enzymes are 3D-printed onto enzyme-enriched plastic film. The ink dries to form circuit wires that adhere to a surface. The printed circuit wires bend with flexible film without breaking. Warm water activates the enzymes to decompose the device. Silver particles completely separate from polymer binders, and polymers break down into monomers within just 72 hours. Approximately 94% of the silver particles can be recycled and reused to print new biodegradable circuits with similar device performance.

    00:00:48 The advance could enable a circular electronics economy that reduces e-waste and plastic pollution.