A team of scientists from the University of Coimbra (UC) has developed and tested a set of new techniques that allow the reduction, reuse and recycling (3R) policy to be applied to electronic waste.
“Scientists have introduced a new architecture for soft materials as conductive composites and substrates that meet 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) goals, have developed autonomous fabrication techniques that include high-resolution digital patterning and “microchip” welding of a just happened. as well as support technologies for the recycling of materials and components,” the UC said in a statement.
The research, financed by the “WoW” projects of the “Carnegie Mellon” Program Portugal (CMU Portugal), “Dermotronics” and “SMART Display”, represents a new step in the fight against technological contamination.
According to the researchers, electronic waste is one of the fastest growing toxic wastes in recent years and, currently, its production reaches an alarming level of seven kilograms per person/year.
Mahmoud Tavakoli, first author of the scientific article published in the journal “Advanced Materials”, explained that the effective application of the 3R to electronics is only possible if it is possible to “demonstrate new manufacturing techniques that, on the one hand, depend on resistant materials , repairable and recyclable and, on the other hand, can compete with existing techniques in terms of pattern resolution, multilayer implementation, microchip integration and autonomous manufacturing”.
Only 20% of e-waste is sent for recyclingand only a small percentage of precious metals, mainly gold, are recovered.
The research, which is underway at the Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR) of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), presents a new architecture for the production scalable. Autonomous and high resolution 3R electronic devices.
It also presents a paradigm shift and lays the groundwork for the next generation of recyclable electronic devices.
The techniques developed still require further technological development “to reach the same maturity as current printed circuit technology, that is, they lack the necessary maturity, including the desired standardization resolution and the appropriate level of automation, for industrial applications” , said. , quoted in the note of that university institution, the ISR researcher and professor at the FCTUC, Mahmoud Tavakoli.
Source: Observadora
