Inexperienced electronics due to biodegradable circuit boards

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Not solely is the casing of this laptop mouse constructed from biodegradable materials, however so is its circuit board. Credit score: Empa

They’re the “heart” of each digital system, from laptops to electrical toothbrushes: printed circuit boards, often known as PCBs. These inflexible boards are coated with copper traces and soldered digital parts and are often of a telltale inexperienced coloration. They’re, nevertheless, not precisely environmentally pleasant.

The substrate usually used for the traces and parts is a laminate product of fiber-reinforced epoxy resin. This composite materials relies on petroleum and can’t be recycled. Correct disposal is expensive; for instance, in a particular pyrolysis furnace with exhaust air purification—a problem, given the massive portions of discarded circuit boards that accumulate for disposal every year.

Researchers led by Thomas Geiger from Empa’s Cellulose and Wooden Supplies laboratory are engaged on a “green,” i.e., sustainable possibility—which is definitely brown. As a part of the EU analysis undertaking HyPELignum, they developed a wood-based substrate for PCBs that may compete with typical epoxy resin—and can be fully biodegradable. The researchers have integrated the boards constructed from this materials into functioning laptop mice. The examine is printed in Scientific Studies.

Dream crew of fibrils and lignin

The supply for the service materials is a pure combination…

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Author : tech365

Publish date : 2025-10-07 16:13:00

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