Integrating recyclable polymers into thermoelectric devices for green electronics. Issue 37 (9th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Jie; Solco, Samantha Faye Duran; Wong, Claris Jie Ee; Sia, Seng Ann; Tan, Xian Yi; Cao, Jing; Yeo, Jayven Chee Chuan; Yan, Weili; Zhu, Qiang; Yan, Qingyu; Wu, Jing; Suwardi, Ady; Li, Zibiao
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 10:Issue 37(2022)
• Page Start: 19787
• Page End: 19796
• Publication Date: 2022-05-09
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ta00386d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is one of the central frameworks of the circular economy. Abstract : Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is one of the central frameworks of the circular economy. However, most e-wastes consist of both organic and inorganic components, which significantly limits their clean separation and recycling for repurposing. Herein, we demonstrate the use of a recyclable polymer (vitrimer) as the encapsulation matrix to construct a recyclable thermoelectric device. An epoxy vitrimer containing dynamic silyl ether linkage was employed as the device encapsulation to provide mechanical support, conformability to surfaces, and more importantly, reprocessability. Benefiting from these features, the resultant vitrimer encapsulated thermoelectric device not only showed an enhanced power generation ability relative to the parent device, but also exhibited new alluring characteristics, such as strong mechanical properties, operability under deformed conditions, clean separation capability, and recyclability. Remarkably, the refabricated device retains its power generation performance, demonstrating the reliability of this method. The strategy reported here can be generally applied to other electronic devices, therefore contributing towards sustainable and circular utilization of resources.