Accelerable Self-Sintering of Solvent-Free Molybdenum/Wax Biodegradable Composites for Multimodally Transient Electronics

Abstract

Biodegradable conductive composites are key materials or components for printable transient electronics that can be fabricated in a low-cost and high-efficiency manner, thereby boosting their wide applications in biomedical engineering, hardware security, and environmental-friendly electronics. Continuous efforts in this area still lie in the development of strategies for highly conductive, safe, and reliable biodegradable conductive composite materials and devices. This paper introduces molybdenum/wax composites for multimodally printable transient electronics in which multiple transience modes including dissolution-induced degradation and thermally triggered degradation are available. Systematic experiments demonstrate several advantages and unique properties of this material system, including solvent-free fabrication, self-sintering behavior, and long-term and high conductivity via accelerable self-sintering treatment and rehealing capabilities. Notably, the immersion of molybdenum/wax composites in phosphate buffer solution can provide both positive effects (accelerated self-sintering-dominated) and negative effects (degradation-dominated) on their electrical conductivities. Mechanism analyses reveal the basis for balancing the degradation and accelerated self-sintering processes. The presented demonstrations foreshadow opportunities of the developed molybdenum/wax composites in rehealable electronics, on-demand smart transient electronics with multiple transience modes, and many other related unusual applications.

Silicon-based transient electronics: principles, devices and applications

“…Biocompatible and biodegradable organic materials have been utilized as substrates or encapsulations for transient electronics. Examples include poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) [78], polylacticcoglycolic acid (PLGA) [69], polylactic acid (PLA) [79], polycaprolactone (PCL) [80], wax [81], cyclicpoly(phtalaldehyde) (cPPA) [82], and silk fibroin [83]. Appropriate choice of materials for these components can be realized through comprehensive considerations of material properties and application requirements.…”

Design and Development of Transient Sensing Devices for Healthcare Applications

“…These alternatives are compatible with cost-effective printing techniques. [37,[46][47][48][49] There is a limited number of degradable metals with biocompatible properties and safe degradation products, making them suitable for healthcare applications. This group of metals includes magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), and iron (Fe).…”

“…These alternatives are compatible with cost‐effective printing techniques. [ 37 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]…”