Plastic circuits to make tougher, greener computers
- 10 July, 2009 14:32
- Comments 11
Circuits in Plastic (CIP) technology may lower the carbon footprint and environmental impact of electronic products
Two Australian engineers are set to shake up the computer and electronics industries by discovering a way to make circuits out of plastic.
So-called “Circuits in Plastic” (CIP) technology is being developed by Professor David Thiel and MadhusudanRao Neeli at the facult of engineering and information technology at Griffith University in Brisbane.
CIP aim to be more environmentally friendly than traditional circuits as they can be made from recycled plastic, don't contain any hazardous substances, and since packaging is part of the base circuit board there is no need additional packaging material.
Different 3D shaped circuits can be made using CIP which are also waterproof.
The new concept was featured on the ABC television show The New Inventors where a working circuit was demonstrated.
“The circuit board is a plastic sheet in which all components are placed in divots,” Thiel said. “The conductor is screen-printed into a thin cover sheet which is then thermally bonded to the circuit board.”
Thiel heads the Centre for Wireless Monitoring and Applications (CWMA) at Griffith and teaches electromagnetics, practical electronics, mathematics and research methods.
According to its designers, the CIP technology can be applied to a wide range of circuits – from simple to complex – in terms of design and functionality.
“The beauty of the technology is you can use recycled and biodegradable plastics,” he said. “At the end of the circuit's life the components are mechanically disassembled and recycled which means a lower carbon footprint compared with the shredding and incineration of traditional circuits.”
The engineers hope the technology becomes the “circuit breaker” to reduce the amount of toxic electronic waste in landfill.
According to the CIP makers, even with lead-free technology, etching of existing printed circuit board (PCB) technology and disposal of the chemicals is a significant issue during manufacturing.
“And less chemicals in the process means less toxic waste entering the environment,” Neeli said.
As plastic circuits are waterproof, one popular application would be a mobile phone resistant to the weather and drink spillages.
Environmental friendliness won't come a price easier as CIP are claimed to be cheaper to produce than their PCB counterparts.
Recommended
Join the Computerworld Australia group on Linkedin. The group is open to IT Directors, IT Managers, Infrastructure Managers, Network Managers, Security Managers, Communications Managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
- Top 10 tips for Migration
- World Quality Report - The State of Quality 2012
- Mobility Apps: What every developer should know
- Leading Through Connections – Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study
- Benefits of Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 on Dell Compellent with Data Progression
-
What’s life really like on the NBN? (Part II)
-
Australia lags Mongolia in Internet speeds
-
40 years ago, Ethernet's fathers were the startup kids
-
Windows 8 won't hit critical mass in enterprises, Forrester says
-
Dell replays Windows 8 blame card as PC sales slide
Comments
Anonymous
1
were can i buy this ???
with
were can i buy this ???
with all tools needed
Anonymous
2
You can't.
Sparky
3
Would be interesting to know what the dielectric and thermal properties of this material are like. Some types of circuit may not be practical with this (e.g. high power dissipation or high frequency RF)
Anonymous
4
How do you put a scope probe in this circuit to test or debug it? How can components -inside- the plastic be replaced, or do you have to replace the whole board if one component goes bad?
Anonymous
5
it's a pretty slow news day when you have to report that someone is about to discover something. can you make it a bit more plausible next time? maybe they will be about to discover unicorns, aliens, and intelligent americans?
DaVince
6
You can't buy this anywhere.
DaVince
7
Oh great. That post was supposed to be a reply to the post at the bottom.
Anonymous
8
LOL
They can't possibly do
LOL
They can't possibly do multilayer boards. The tracks are about 1mm wide and have big spooge marks where they connect to the pads on a 8 pin soic.
If they can do fantastic multilayer boards, why is the demonstrator 5 leds driven by a pic micro with 2 batteries.
Looks to me like they are about 50 years from been able to produce a modern circuit of any use.
Youll have to get a lot beeter a spooging goo on pins if your gonna do a mobile phone or mp3 player.
Anonymous
9
Think positive. For sure they'll find a way to improve this.
vaizard
10
Think positive. For sure they'll find a way to improve this.
Ian
11
I am taking a wild guess here but if you trying to show how something works then you have to show it. The product shown was made for the Inventors programme.
If they can make even a two layer board then you wouldn't be able to see "how" it works. the product shown gives you an idea of how the product is built. It is early days of this product but it sounds very promising but it does rely on having very reliable components.