A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has developed a new PCB that performs on par with traditional ones, but the new PCBs are recyclable. The researchers used the newest class of environmentally friendly polymers – vitrimer. With the help of a solvent, it can be turned into a jelly-like substance, allowing the board to be dissolved and other components to be removed for reuse or recycling.
The jelly-like vitrimer can be reused repeatedly to make new, high-quality printed circuit boards, unlike conventional plastics that break down significantly with each recycling. With these “vPCBs” (Vitrimer printed circuit boards), the researchers recovered 98% of the vitrimer and 100% of the glass fiber, as well as 91% of the solvent used for recycling.
A recent United Nations report shows that in 2022, 62 billion kilograms of e-waste were generated globally, an 82% increase from 2010. However, less than a quarter of e-waste was recycled in 2022. One of the problems is that we do not have large-scale systems for recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are found in almost all electronic devices.
The team analyzed the environmental impact and found that the developed vPCBs could lead to a 48% reduction in global warming potential and an 81% reduction in carcinogenic emissions compared to traditional boards.
Although this work is still a technological example, the team notes that a significant obstacle to establishing a vPCB reuse process is creating incentives for collecting e-waste so that it can be recycled.
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Editor：Lulu
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