The industry behind making modern electronics is very unsustainable due to the mining of rare earth metals and fabricating these electronics uses a lot of energy. As global e-waste grows 10% annually and has about a 10% recovery rate. However, there have been new advancements in techniques on how to use bipolymers such as cellulose which is found in wood to be used in flexible electronics. A flexible electronic system is made of three parts: substrate, backplane, and frontplane in order for the electronic to be flexible it must be lightweight, resilient, and moldable and in order for the electronic to work all of its parts must be flexible. Cellulose by itself is a very strong polymer as it is what gives wood its shape, by isolating the cellulose from lignin it can create a transparent wood film. This is where wood product cellulose comes in, it has been shown to be a great substrate as they have properties similar to nonbiodegradable substrates such as plastics but also has better characteristics such as its ability to be recycled and flexibility. However, the only drawback is that cellulose cannot conduct electricity well, but with conductive materials added to it can. Continuing research into this new method of making electronics, it can help elevate the environmental toll on the earth by making electronics sustainable and relying less on non-biodegradable toxic products.
Malik H et al. Wood as a green and sustainable alternative for environmentally friendly & flexible electronic devices. Chemosphere. 2023;336(139213):139213. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0045653523014807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139213
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