A team at the State University of New York has devised a way of minimising e-waste, by developing disposable electronic components that can be printed on a sheet of paper.
They designed a paper-based amplifier-type circuit that incorporates resistors, capacitors and a transistor, which would be both easy to carry and to recycle.
The team first used wax to print channels onto a sheet of paper in a simple pattern. After melting the wax so that it soaked into the paper, the researchers printed semiconductive and conductive inks, which soaked into the areas not blocked by wax. Then, they screen-printed additional conductive metal components and cast a gel-based electrolyte onto the sheet.
The final circuit was very flexible and thin, just like paper, even after adding the components. To demonstrate the degradability of the circuit, the team showed that the entire unit quickly burned to ash after being set on fire. They say this represents a step toward...