Ing. Daniel Koc

Biodegradable materials represent a promising path toward green andsustainable electronics on a global scale in the future. Plastics play a pivotalrole in contemporary electronics, including printed circuit boards (PCB),where petroleum-based polymers such as epoxies form the base insulatingsubstrate. In this review paper, several promising bio-based alternatives toconventional PCB materials that are recently developed and investigated arestated and discussed regarding their properties, practical utilization, andfurther perspective. The given list includes polylactic acid (PLA), celluloseacetate (CA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and others, with the development ofPLA-based PCB substrates being the furthest along regarding the use inindustry practice. Yet, all of the provided solutions are still only suitable forprototypes or low-cost electronics without high-reliability requirements. Thereason for this is inferior mechanical and thermal properties of biopolymerscompared to traditional petroleum-based polymers. Further development istherefore essential, including new types of reinforcements and otheradditives. However, as Life Cycle Assessment analyses discussed in the papershow, biopolymers are capable of significantly reducing the environmentalimpact and are likely to play a major role in shaping a sustainable path for theelectronics industry, which will be a key challenge in the current decade.