Biodegradable electronics

Biodegradable electronics are electronic circuits and devices with a limited lifetime owing to their tendency to <a href="/facts/Biodegradation/d1UW4dfR">biodegrade</a>. Such devices are proposed to represent useful <a href="/facts/Medical_implant/3PKvy4I2">medical implant</a>, and temporary communication sensors.
Organic electronic devices as compostable material platforms have been fabricated on <a href="/facts/Aluminum_foil/onPGU9JT">aluminum foil</a> and paper to accommodate these expanded functionalities. In one embodiment of this idea, paper films were utilized as a combination substrate and <a href="/facts/Gate_dielectric/r3q1KFjQ">gate dielectric</a> for use with <a href="/facts/Pentacene/yBLPm5RU">pentacene</a>-based active layers. This idea was expanded upon to create complete circuits using foldable paper-based substrates.
<a href="/facts/Silk/XhxPpvvS">Silk</a> coatings could underpin an electronic devices because it melts away when the device is no longer needed. One test device, a heating circuit powered by beaming radio waves at it, was implanted under the skin of a rat with a wound. After the wound had healed, the implant simply melts away. The US military research agency <a href="/facts/DARPA/Uf9sarhT">DARPA</a> funded research on building a tiny dissolving camera with this silk coating for use as a disposable spy camera.
<a href="/facts/Cable_bacteria/Wb8dNjTG">Cable bacteria</a> give insight to how biodegradable electronics could be made.

Biodegradable electronics open-in-new

Biodegradable electronics