Biodegradable electronics are electronic circuits and devices with a limited lifetime owing to their tendency to biodegrade. Such devices are proposed to represent useful medical implant,[1][2] and temporary communication sensors.

Organic electronic devices as compostable material platforms have been fabricated on aluminum foil[3] and paper[4] to accommodate these expanded functionalities. In one embodiment of this idea, paper films were utilized as a combination substrate and gate dielectric for use with pentacene-based active layers.[4] This idea was expanded upon to create complete circuits using foldable paper-based substrates.

Silk 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 DARPA funded research on building a tiny dissolving camera with this silk coating for use as a disposable spy camera.[5]

Cable bacteria give insight to how biodegradable electronics could be made.[6]

References

  1. ^ Kim DH, Kim YS, Amsden J, Panilaitis B, Kaplan DL, Omenetto FG, Zakin MR, Rogers JA (2009). "Silicon electronics on silk as a path to bioresorbable, implantable devices". Appl. Phys. Lett. 95 (26): 133701. doi:10.1063/1.3274132. PMC 2809667. PMID 20111628.
  2. ^ Rogers, J. A.; et al. (2011). "Epidermal Electronics". Science. 333 (6044): 838–843. Bibcode:2011Sci...333..838K. doi:10.1126/science.1206157. OSTI 1875151. PMID 21836009. S2CID 426960.
  3. ^ Yoon MH, Yan H, Facchetti A, Marks TJ (30 June 2005). "Low-Voltage Organic Field-Effect Transistors and Inverters Enabled by Ultrathin Cross-Linked Polymers as Gate Dielectrics". J Am Chem Soc. 127 (29): 10388–95. doi:10.1021/ja052488f. PMID 16028951.
  4. ^ a b Yong-Hoon K, Dae-Gyu M, Jeong-In H (2004). "Organic TFT array on a paper substrate". IEEE Electron Device Letters. 25 (10): 702–4. doi:10.1109/LED.2004.836502.
  5. ^ "Silk holds the key to devices that dissolve after use".
  6. ^ Meysman, Filip J. R.; Cornelissen, Rob; Trashin, Stanislav; Bonné, Robin; Martinez, Silvia Hidalgo; Van Der Veen, Jasper; Blom, Carsten J.; Karman, Cheryl; Hou, Ji-Ling; Eachambadi, Raghavendran Thiruvallur; Geelhoed, Jeanine S.; Wael, Karolien De; Beaumont, Hubertus J. E.; Cleuren, Bart; Valcke, Roland; Van Der Zant, Herre S. J.; Boschker, Henricus T. S.; Manca, Jean V. (2019). "A highly conductive fibre network enables centimetre-scale electron transport in multicellular cable bacteria". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 4120. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12115-7. PMC 6739318. PMID 31511526.
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