Biopolymer Cryogels for Transient Ecology‐Drones

Abstract

Natural forests are one of the world's largest carbon sinks, absorbing approximately two billion tonnes of CO 2 per year. [1,2] To improve understanding of forest ecosystems and develop conservation strategies, more sophisticated energy balance models need to be developed. [3] Research activities must focus on understanding changes in the vegetative phenology and the ecosystem energy or mass exchanges, which influence the ecosystem carbon production and productivity levels. [4][5][6] Many factors need to be studied and modeled to estimate CO 2 budgets [7] and guide policymakers and environmentalists toward efficient strategies for carbon sequestration in forests. [8] To develop these models, environmental data with high temporal and spatial resolution is of the utmost importance. This requires time-consuming, complex, and expensive methods to manually distribute build-to-last sensing devices with human workers. [9] These sensing devices still pose a threat to the environment in which they are deployed in, as they are nondegradable and potentially toxic.

Near-Infrared Triggered Degradation for Transient Electronics

“…Disintegrable materials possess a potential interest for fabrication of transient electronic devices, which represent a new class of technology for biomedical implantable devices, – temporal memory devices, – environmental and soil sensor applications. Transient electronic devices can disintegrate fully or partially in a predetermined time or by using external stimuli to trigger disintegration.…”