Tag: printed
Fully Recyclable Printed Electronics Produced Using Water Instead of Toxic Chemicals
Electrical/computer engineering professor Aaron Franklin led the study, according to Duke’s announcement:
In previous work, Franklin and his group demonstrated the first fully recyclable printed electronics. The devices used three carbon-based inks: semiconducting carbon nanotubes, conductive graphene and insulating nanocellulose. In trying to adapt the original process to only use water, the carbon nanotubes presented the largest challenge…. In the paper, Franklin and his group develop a cyclical process in which the device is rinsed with water, dried in relatively low heat and printed on again. When the amount of surfactant used in the ink is also tuned down, the researchers show that their inks and processes can create fully functional, fully recyclable, fully water-based transistors….
Franklin explains that, by demonstrating a transistor first, he hopes to signal to the rest of the field that there is a viable path toward making some electronics manufacturing processes much more environmentally friendly. Franklin has already proven that nearly 100% of the carbon nanotubes and graphene used in printing can be recovered and reused in the same process, losing very little of the substances or their performance viability. Because nanocellulose is made from wood, it can simply be recycled or biodegraded like paper. And while the process does use a lot of water, it’s not nearly as much as what is required to deal with the toxic chemicals used in traditional fabrication methods.
According to a United Nations estimate, less than a quarter of the millions of pounds of electronics thrown away each year is recycled. And the problem is only going to get worse as the world eventually upgrades to 6G devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand. So any dent that could be made in this growing mountain of electronic trash is important to pursue. While more work needs to be done, Franklin says the approach could be used in the manufacturing of other electronic components like the screens and displays that are now ubiquitous to society. Every electronic display has a backplane of thin-film transistors similar to what is demonstrated in the paper. The current fabrication technology is high-energy and relies on hazardous chemicals as well as toxic gasses. The entire industry has been flagged for immediate attention by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
“The performance of our thin-film transistors doesn’t match the best currently being manufactured, but they’re competitive enough to show the research community that we should all be doing more work to make these processes more environmentally friendly,” Franklin said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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New Kickstarter Will Add 3D Printed Elden Ring-Style Fog Gates To Your D&D Campaign
Tabletop RPGs are a time-intensive hobby, with some gamemasters spending hours setting up the perfect virtual or physical map for the climax of the D&D session. If you’re looking to add a little more pizzaz to your sessions, one Kickstarter will sell you a 3D-printed portal that lets you make your own fog gates, and the effect is pretty impressive.
Black Scrolls Games is one of many companies that sells 3D-printed terrain pieces for D&D campaigns, which are intended for use with grid-based combat, or to simply give your players an idea of the battlefield. However, this Kickstarter also includes portal pieces that hold your phone, which allows you to make a swirling gate effect, or even the fog gates made famous by FromSoftware’s Souls series. They can even be used horizontally for a witch’s cauldron effect. However, you’ll need a 3D printer to make these, so make sure you know that before you back it.
“Act 1” of the Kickstarter includes almost a dozen portals that can be used in various configurations, including one with a pond effect that drains to reveal a dungeon entrance beneath. Very nifty. Act 2 includes at least 4 more, including a particularly impressive tree portal called Summoned Souls. While these pieces aren’t necessary for a great D&D campaign, they’ll definitely have an effect on your party if you’re a GM who pays particular attention to presentation. Backers who commit $45 or more will receive the full set in 3D printer format.
Never Lose a Package With This Paper-Thin 5G Tracking Label That Has a Printed Battery Inside
How often have you checked the status of a shipment through a carrier’s website only to find its expected ETA and current location wildly inaccurate? With these smart shipping labels that can be stuck to boxes and even letter mail, the precise location of a package is always known thanks to an always-on 5G connection…