Science Daily April 26, 2023
A team of researchers in the US (University of Washington, industry) has developed printed circuit boards (PCB) formulation using transesterification vitrimers (vPCBs) and an end-to-end fabrication process compatible with standard manufacturing ecosystems to reduce the environmental impact of the vPCBs over conventional PCBs in 11 categories. They manufactured functional prototypes of Internet of Things devices transmitting 2.4 GHz radio signals on vPCBs with electrical and mechanical properties meeting industry standards. They showed that fractures and holes in vPCBs are repairable while retaining comparable performance over multiple repair cycles, and demonstrated a non-destructive recycling process based on polymer swelling with small-molecule solvents, without degrading the materials. They found negligible catalyst loss, minimal changes in storage modulus and equivalent polymer backbone composition across multiple recycling cycles. The method achieved 98% polymer recovery, 100% fibre recovery and 91% solvent recovery to create new vPCBs without performance degradation. According to the researchers their work paves the way for sustainability transitions in the electronics industry… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Transesterification vitrimer-based fully recyclable PCB. Credit: Nature Sustainability, 26 April 2024