Eco

The Binghamton University team behind "papertronics," paper-based electronic devices which offer a more environmentally friendly approach to single-use sensors and the like, has received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further develop the concept.

"All previous work with paper-based printed circuit boards had to use off-the-shelf electronic components," explains Seokheun (Sean) Choi, professor at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and lead on the papertronics project. "That doesn’t make any sense for fully paper-based electronics. We want to replace those components with paper-based capacitors, registers and transistors.”

The grant is to be used to fund research into expanded uses for and the scaling up of a technology demonstrated in a paper published in October last year. Aimed primarily at single-use electronics like medical sensors, "integrated papertronics" devices are created by printing and melting wax onto paper, adding inks and screen-printed silver, then an electrolyte to turn portions into active components.

The team behind the October paper demonstrated the potential of the technology with a range of functional papertronic devices — including a working amplifier, which combined resistor, transistor, and supercapacitor devices. After testing, the amplifier was burned to ash — leaving behind none of the harmful materials usually associated with traditional electronics.

"My long-term goal is to create a green and renewable electronic system, so in that sense this project is the next logical step," Choi claims. "The ideas and observations in my research group make us a leader in paper-based biobatteries and self-powered, paper-based biosensors. I’m going to integrate all my expertise, knowledge and experiences to create an entirely paper-based system."

Choi and colleagues aren't the only ones investigating a move to paper for future electronics, though. In November last year a team from Nanyang Technological University demonstrated a way to turn waste paper into a material for use in high-capacity lithium-ion batteries; in September researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Pandit Deendayal Energy University created a pressure sensor from layers of plain and corrugated cellulose paper coated in tin-monosulfide; and in March this year scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP) demonstrated a sensor for detecting pesticides on edible fruit, made from kraft or parchment paper screen printed with carbon electrodes.

"With our previous work, we wanted to develop papertronic components — that was our focus, and we used toxic materials or whatever worked," Choi says of earlier work and how the grant-funded extension will differ. "But now, I’d like to use biodegradable materials to create even the small components as well."

"This NSF project aims to create a disposable and green device platform by developing an entirely paper-based system through system integration of paper-based electronic components in the paper PCB," the NSF notes in its award abstract. "We envision that the proposed innovation will provide a novel strategy that revolutionizes the next-generation disposable device fabrication and applications."

More information on the terms of the grant are available on the NSF website.