• PDF / 864,880 Bytes
• 8 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
• 101 Downloads / 249 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

Perspective En route toward sustainable organic electronics

Alexandra Zvezdin and Eduardo Di Mauro,  Polytechnique Montreal, Engineering Physics, Montreal, Quebec H3T1J4, Canada Denis Rho,  Aquatic and Crop Resource Development, National Research Council Canada, Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2, Canada Clara Santato,  Polytechnique Montreal, Engineering Physics, Montreal, Quebec H3T1J4, Canada Mohamed Khalil,  Polytechnique Montreal, Engineering Physics, Montreal, Quebec H3T1J4, Canada; and Pyrocycle, Campus Polytechnique Montreal, Quebec H3T1J4, Canada Clara Santato at [email protected] (Received 22 December 2019; accepted 30 March 2020)

ABSTRACT Consumer electronics have caused an unsustainable amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Organic electronics, by means of eco-design, represent an opportunity to manufacture compostable electronic devices. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), or e-waste, is defined as the waste of any device that uses a power source and that has reached its end of life. Disposing of WEEE at landfill sites has been identified as an inefficient solid waste processing strategy as well as a threat to human health and the environment. In the effort to mitigate the problem, practices such as (i) designing products for durability, reparability, and safe recycling, and (ii) promoting closed-loop systems based on systematic collection and reuse/refurbishment have been identified. In this perspective, we introduce a complementary route to making electronics more sustainable: organic electronics based on biodegradable materials and devices. Biodegradable organic electronics lie at the intersection of research in chemistry, materials science, device engineering, bioelectronics, microbiology, and toxicology. The design of organic electronics for standardized biodegradability will allow composting to be an end-of-life option. Keywords: biomaterial; organic; electronic material; environmentally benign; environment

DISCUSSION POINTS • W  aste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) contains hazardous substances (e.g., mercury, lead, and halogenated flame retardants) that pose health and environmental concerns. Precious metals, such as gold, and materials of strategic value, such as indium, are present in WEEE. • O  rganic electronics, making use of carbon-based conjugated materials (featuring an alternance of single and double bonds), offer the opportunity to make the electronics sector greener through the use of abundant materials, synthesized and processed following the principles of green chemistry to fabricate biodegradable devices that can be composted at the end of life.

Introduction Waste electrical and electronic equipment The rapidly growing demand for consumer electronics, presently one of the most ubiquitous technologies, has caused an unsustainable amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or e-waste).1–3 WEEE comprises personal devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets), household appliances, and products of obsolete technologies (e.g., c