5/20/2017 Cuttingewaste:DevicewillselfdestructwhenheatedScienceDaily

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Cuttingewaste:Devicewillselfdestructwhenheated
Date: May21,2015

Source: UniversityofIllinoisatUrbanaChampaign

Summary: Wheredoelectronicsgowhentheydie?Mostdevicesarelaidtoeternalrestinlandfills.Butwhatiftheyjustdissolvedaway,orbroke
downtotheirmolecularcomponentssothatthematerialcouldberecycled?Researchershavedevelopedheattriggeredselfdestructing
electronicdevices,asteptowardgreatlyreducingelectronicwasteandboostingsustainabilityindevicemanufacturing.Theyalso
developedaradiocontrolledtriggerthatcouldremotelyactivateselfdestructionondemand.

Share: abvegd
FULLSTORY

Adeviceisremotelytriggeredtoselfdestruct.Aradiofrequencysignalturnsonaheatingelementatthecenterofthedevice.Thecircuitsdissolve
completely.

Credit:ScottWhite,UniversityofIllinois

Wheredoelectronicsgowhentheydie?Mostdevicesarelaidtoeternalrestinlandfills.Butwhatiftheyjustdissolved
away,orbrokedowntotheirmolecularcomponentssothatthematerialcouldberecycled?

UniversityofIllinoisresearchershavedevelopedheattriggeredselfdestructingelectronicdevices,asteptowardgreatlyreducingelectronicwasteand
boostingsustainabilityindevicemanufacturing.Theyalsodevelopedaradiocontrolledtriggerthatcouldremotelyactivateselfdestructionondemand.

Theresearchers,ledbyaerospaceengineeringprofessorScottR.White,publishedtheirworkinthejournalAdvancedMaterials.

"Wehavedemonstratedelectronicsthataretherewhenyouneedthemandgonewhenyoudon'tneedthemanymore,"Whitesaid."Thisisawayof
creatingsustainabilityinthematerialsthatareusedinmoderndayelectronics.Thiswasourfirstattempttouseanenvironmentalstimulustotrigger
destruction."

White'sgroupteamedupwithJohnA.Rogers,aSwanlundchairinmaterialsscienceandengineeringanddirectoroftheFrederickSeitzMaterials
LaboratoryatIllinois.Rogers'grouppioneeredtransientdevicesthatdissolveinwater,withapplicationsforbiomedicalimplants.Together,thetwomulti
disciplinaryresearchgroupshavetackledtheproblemofusingothertriggerstobreakdowndevices,includingultravioletlight,heatandmechanical
stress.Thegoalistofindwaystodisintegratethedevicessothatmanufacturerscanrecyclecostlymaterialsfromusedorobsoletedevicesorsothat
thedevicescouldbreakdowninalandfill.

Theheattriggereddevicesusemagnesiumcircuitsprintedonverythin,flexiblematerials.Theresearcherstrapmicroscopicdropletsofaweakacidin
wax,andcoatthedeviceswiththewax.Whenthedevicesareheated,thewaxmelts,releasingtheacid.Theaciddissolvesthedevicequicklyand
completely.

Toremotelytriggerthereaction,researchersembeddedaradiofrequencyreceiverandaninductiveheatingcoilinthedevice.Theusercansenda
signaltocausethecoiltoheatup,whichmeltsthewaxanddissolvesthedevice.

Watchavideooftheresearchersdemonstratingandexplainingthedevicesathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdj915k5gKg.

"Thisworkdemonstratestheextenttowhichcleverchemistriescanqualitativelyexpandthebreadthofmechanismsintransience,andthereforethe
rangeofpotentialapplications,"Rogerssaid.

Theresearcherscancontrolhowfastthedevicedegradesbytuningthethicknessofthewax,theconcentrationoftheacid,andthetemperature.They
candesignadevicetoselfdestructwithin20secondstoacoupleofminutesafterheatisapplied.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150521133746.htm 1/3
5/20/2017 Cuttingewaste:DevicewillselfdestructwhenheatedScienceDaily
Thedevicesalsocandegradeinstepsbyencasingdifferentpartsinwaxeswithdifferentmeltingtemperatures.Thisgivesmoreprecisecontrolover
whichpartsofadeviceareoperative,creatingpossibilitiesforsophisticateddevicesthatcansensesomethingintheenvironmentandrespondtoit.

White'sgrouphaslongbeenconcernedwithdevicesustainabilityandhaspioneeredmethodsofselfhealingtoextendthelifeofmaterials.

"Wetookourideasintermsofmaterialsregenerationandflippedit180degrees,"Whitesaid."Ifyoucan'tkeepusingsomething,whetherit'sobsolete
orjustdoesn'tworkanymore,we'dliketobeabletobringitbacktothebuildingblocksofthematerialsoyoucanrecyclethemwhenyou'redone,orif
youcan'trecycleit,haveitdissolveawayandnotsitaroundinlandfills."

StorySource:

MaterialsprovidedbyUniversityofIllinoisatUrbanaChampaign.Note:Contentmaybeeditedforstyleandlength.

JournalReference:

1. ChanWooPark,SeungKyunKang,HectorLopezHernandez,JoshuaA.Kaitz,DaeSeungWie,JihoShin,OliviaP.Lee,NancyR.Sottos,JeffreyS.
Moore,JohnA.Rogers,ScottR.White.ThermallyTriggeredDegradationofTransientElectronicDevices.AdvancedMaterials,2015DOI:
10.1002/adma.201501180

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UniversityofIllinoisatUrbanaChampaign."Cuttingewaste:Devicewillselfdestructwhenheated."ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,21May2015.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150521133746.htm>.

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