{"id":230648,"date":"2026-02-05T22:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/biodegradable-pcb-targets-short-lifetime-electronics"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:15:38","slug":"biodegradable-pcb-targets-short-lifetime-electronics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/biodegradable-pcb-targets-short-lifetime-electronics","title":{"rendered":"Biodegradable PCB targets short-lifetime electronics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/biodegradable-pcb-targets-short-lifetime-electronics.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Researchers at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gla.ac.uk\/news\/headline_1233884_en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Glasgow<\/a> have developed an almost entirely biodegradable PCB using zinc conductors and bio-derived substrate materials. The work aims to reduce the environmental impact of <a href=\"https:\/\/procurementpro.com\/sustainable-procurement-in-consumer-electronics-pt-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">electronic waste<\/a> by replacing conventional copper-based PCBs in applications designed for short operational lifetimes.<\/p>\n<p>For eeNews Europe readers, the research is relevant as it explores alternative PCB materials and manufacturing methods that could be applied to disposable and low-duty-cycle electronics, including sensing and IoT-related devices.<\/p>\n<p>The approach differs from conventional PCB fabrication, which typically involves etching copper from a full sheet. Instead, the researchers use what they describe as a growth and transfer additive manufacturing process, depositing conductive material only where tracks are required. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.electronicspecifier.com\/industries\/alternative-energy\/biodegradable-zinc-based-circuit-boards-reduce-e-waste\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to the team<\/a>, this reduces metal usage and avoids the use of harsh chemical etchants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers at the University of Glasgow have developed an almost entirely biodegradable PCB using zinc conductors and bio-derived substrate materials. The work aims to reduce the environmental impact of electronic waste by replacing conventional copper-based PCBs in applications designed for short operational lifetimes. For eeNews Europe readers, the research is relevant as it explores alternative [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chemistry","category-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}