Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Zhihan, Biswal, Agni K., Nandi, Ankush, Frost, Kali, Smith, Jake A., Nguyen, Bichlien H., Patel, Shwetak, Vashisth, Aniruddh, Iyer, Vikram
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.12496
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917699891757056
author Zhang, Zhihan
Biswal, Agni K.
Nandi, Ankush
Frost, Kali
Smith, Jake A.
Nguyen, Bichlien H.
Patel, Shwetak
Vashisth, Aniruddh
Iyer, Vikram
author_facet Zhang, Zhihan
Biswal, Agni K.
Nandi, Ankush
Frost, Kali
Smith, Jake A.
Nguyen, Bichlien H.
Patel, Shwetak
Vashisth, Aniruddh
Iyer, Vikram
contents Electronics are integral to modern life; however, at their end-of-life these devices produce environmentally hazardous electronic waste (e-waste). Recycling the ubiquitous printed circuit boards (PCBs) that make up a substantial mass and volume fraction of e-waste is challenging due to their use of irreversibly cured thermoset epoxies. We present a PCB formulation using transesterification vitrimers (vPCBs), and an end-to-end fabrication process compatible with standard manufacturing ecosystems. We create functional prototypes of IoT devices transmitting 2.4 GHz radio signals on vPCBs with electrical and mechanical properties meeting industry standards. Fractures and holes in vPCBs can be repaired while retaining comparable performance over more than four repair cycles. We further demonstrate non-destructive decomposition of transesterification vitrimer composites with solid inclusions and metal attachments by polymer swelling with small molecule solvents. We hypothesize that unlike traditional solvolysis recycling, swelling does not degrade the materials. Through dynamic mechanical analysis we find negligible catalyst loss, minimal changes in storage modulus, and equivalent polymer backbone composition across multiple recycling cycles. We achieve 98% polymer recovery, 100% fiber recovery, and 91% solvent recovery which we reuse to create new vPCBs without degraded performance. Our cradle-to-cradle life-cycle assessment shows substantial environmental impact reduction over conventional PCBs in 11 categories.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_12496
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Recyclable vitrimer-based printed circuit board for circular electronics
Zhang, Zhihan
Biswal, Agni K.
Nandi, Ankush
Frost, Kali
Smith, Jake A.
Nguyen, Bichlien H.
Patel, Shwetak
Vashisth, Aniruddh
Iyer, Vikram
Applied Physics
Electronics are integral to modern life; however, at their end-of-life these devices produce environmentally hazardous electronic waste (e-waste). Recycling the ubiquitous printed circuit boards (PCBs) that make up a substantial mass and volume fraction of e-waste is challenging due to their use of irreversibly cured thermoset epoxies. We present a PCB formulation using transesterification vitrimers (vPCBs), and an end-to-end fabrication process compatible with standard manufacturing ecosystems. We create functional prototypes of IoT devices transmitting 2.4 GHz radio signals on vPCBs with electrical and mechanical properties meeting industry standards. Fractures and holes in vPCBs can be repaired while retaining comparable performance over more than four repair cycles. We further demonstrate non-destructive decomposition of transesterification vitrimer composites with solid inclusions and metal attachments by polymer swelling with small molecule solvents. We hypothesize that unlike traditional solvolysis recycling, swelling does not degrade the materials. Through dynamic mechanical analysis we find negligible catalyst loss, minimal changes in storage modulus, and equivalent polymer backbone composition across multiple recycling cycles. We achieve 98% polymer recovery, 100% fiber recovery, and 91% solvent recovery which we reuse to create new vPCBs without degraded performance. Our cradle-to-cradle life-cycle assessment shows substantial environmental impact reduction over conventional PCBs in 11 categories.
title Recyclable vitrimer-based printed circuit board for circular electronics
topic Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.12496