Highly Stretchable, Biodegradable, and Recyclable Green Electronic Substrates

Abstract

As a steady stream of electronic devices being discarded, a vast amount of electronic substrate waste of petroleum‐based nondegradable polymers is generated, raising endless concerns about resource depletion and environmental pollution. With coupled reagent (CR)‐grafted artificial marble waste (AMW@CR) as functional fillers, polylactic acid (PLA)‐based highly stretchable biodegradable green composite (AMW@CR‐SBGC) is prepared, with elongation at break up to more than 250%. The degradation mechanism of AMW@CR‐SBGC is deeply revealed. AMW@CR not only contributed to the photodegradation of AMW@CR‐SBGC but also significantly promoted the water degradation of AMW@CR‐SBGC. More importantly, AMW@CR‐SBGC showed great potential as sustainable green electronic substrates and AMW@CR‐SBGC‐based electronic skin can simulate the perception of human skin to strain signals. The outstanding programmable degradability, recyclability, and reusability of AMW@CR‐SBGC enabled its application in transient electronics. As the first demonstration of artificial marble waste in electronic substrates, AMW@CR‐SBGC killed three birds with one stone in terms of waste resourcing, e‐waste reduction, and saving nonrenewable petroleum resources, opening up vast new opportunities for green electronics applications in areas such as health monitoring, artificial intelligence, and security.