2 research outputs found
Sustainable Electronics Based on Crop Plant Extracts and Graphene: A “Bioadvantaged” Approach
In today’s fast-paced and well-connected world, consumer electronics are
evolving rapidly. As a result, the amount of discarded electronic devices is
becoming a major health and environmental concern. The rapid expansion
of flexible electronics has the potential to transform consumer electronic
devices from rigid phones and tablets to robust wearable devices. This
means increased use of plastics in consumer electronics and the potential to
generate more persistent plastic waste for the environment. Hence, today, the
need for flexible biodegradable electronics is at the forefront of minimizing
the mounting pile of global electronic waste. A “bioadvantaged” approach
to develop a biodegradable, flexible, and application-adaptable electronic
components based on crop components and graphene is reported. More
specifically, by combining zein, a corn-derived protein, and aleuritic acid,
a major monomer of tomato cuticles and sheellac, along with graphene,
biocomposite conductors having low electrical resistance (≈10 Ω sq−1)
with exceptional mechanical and fatigue resilience are fabricated. Further,
a number of high-performance electronic applications, such as THz
electromagnetic shielding, flexible GHz antenna construction, and flexible
solar cell electrode, are demonstrated. Excellent performance results are
measured from each application comparable to conventional nondegrading
counterparts, thus paving the way for the concept of “plant-e-tronics”
towards sustainability