Human modern civilization can be said to be based on fossil energy. But in recent years, with the depletion of these non-renewable resources, people will face an energy crisis in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, human beings are also suffering from the pain they bring, such as the severe air pollution and white pollution.
In order to solve these problems, people turned their attention to new fields, one of which is: degradable materials.
1- Degradable mobile phone case as fertilizer
The mobile phone case is the coat of the mobile phone. In order to increase the novelty of using mobile phones, some young customers will change their mobile phone cases regularly. Many people have at least three or four mobile phone cases in their drawers, and as many as a dozen mobile phone cases. According to statistics, more than 2 billion plastic mobile phone cases are produced in the world every year, and the weight of a mobile phone protective case is between 70 grams and 200 grams. It is estimated that by 2025, more than 12 billion tons of plastic waste will be discarded in waste treatment plants around the world, and a large number of discarded mobile phone cases that cannot be processed will have a huge impact on the environment.
As the concept of environmental protection has become a social consensus, some high-tech companies took the lead in setting an example. Many brands have launched a series of mobile phone cases that focus on environmental protection. The mobile phone case uses plants as raw materials and uses environmentally friendly water-based ink to color the case.
It is worth mentioning that these seemingly ordinary mobile phone cases can be completely decomposed in the soil in just six months. Because the raw materials are derived from plants, the mobile phone case not only does not pollute the environment, but can also be turned into fertilizer to improve the soil.
2- PLA directly make clothes
Degradable plastic products and even degradable clothing are not new topics.
3- Biodegradable circuit
The e-waste problem will only get worse over time. Recently, a research team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, has come up with a potential solution: a fully recyclable, biodegradable printed circuit. The new device, which they report in the journal Advanced Materials, could divert wearables and other flexible electronics from landfills and mitigate the health and environmental hazards of heavy metal waste.
In a previous study published in the journal Nature, the research team found that embedding purified enzymes such as Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BC-lipase) into plastic materials accelerated its degradation. This time, instead of expensive purified enzymes, the research team used a cheaper, off-the-shelf BC-lipase "mixture". This greatly reduces costs and facilitates mass production of circuits.
The researchers used a 3D printer with conductive ink to print circuit patterns on various surfaces including rigid biodegradable plastic, flexible biodegradable plastic and cloth, demonstrating that the ink adheres to various materials. After the ink dries, an integrated circuit device is formed.
They immersed the circuit in warm water to test its recyclability. Within 72 hours, the circuit material degraded into silver particles that completely separated from the polymer binder, and the polymer broke down into reusable monomers. The researchers were able to easily recover the metal without additional treatment, and by the end of the experiment, they determined that about 94 percent of the silver particles could be recovered and reused.
The circuit remained degradable after 30 days of operation, suggesting that the enzymes were still active. This was attributed to the addition of an enzyme protectant. The researchers say the circuit could serve as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics used in transient electronic devices, such as devices such as biomedical implants or environmental sensors, that decompose over a period of time.
