A new material for flexible electronics could enable multilayered, recyclable electronic devices and help limit e-waste.
Electronic waste is a rapidly growing problem, but this degradable material could allow the recycling of parts from many single-use and wearable devices
"We recognize that electronic waste is an ongoing global crisis that's only going to get worse as we continue to build more devices for the internet of things, and as the rest of the world develops," says Wallin, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
However, it's also virtually impossible to melt or dissolve Kapton, so it can't be reprocessed. The same properties also make it harder to manufacture the circuits into advanced architectures, such as multilayered electronics. The traditional way of making Kapton involves heating the material to anywhere from 200 to 300 degrees Celsius."It's a rather slow process. It takes hours," Wang says.
As for recyclability, the team introduced subunits into the polymer backbone that can be rapidly dissolved away by an alcohol and catalyst solution. Then, precious metals used in the circuits, as well as entire microchips, can be recovered from the solution and reused for new devices.
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