Design Breakthrough Could Make Future Mobiles 100 Per Cent Recyclable
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 - 09:54:03
A team at Australia’s National University have announced the creation of a cutting-edge semiconductor which is better suited to the modern requirements to build flexible and sustainable smartphones and other electronic devices.
Recycling International reports that the technology could be the cornerstone of the foldable smartphone revolution, an avenue which is already being pursued by major firms like Samsung.
Mobile recycling is a major issue around the world, and even if old handsets are sold or donated after they are no longer needed by their original owners, the process of dismantling them and reclaiming the usable materials they contain is far from simple.
The semiconductor is built to be thin, light, truly flexible and also capable of degrading after it is discarded because it makes use of organic materials in its structure.
Researchers were able to reduce the thickness of the semiconductor to that of a single atom, which will have a range of additional benefits. It will mean that smartphones and other gadgets are more efficient, using less energy to achieve better performance than any previous generation of hardware could hope to offer.
Of course, as with any breakthrough made as part of academic research, the road to commercial availability for this technology will be long and littered with obstacles. Even so, it is refreshing to see positive steps made towards enhancing the recyclability of key components which are so integral to consumer electronics of all kinds.
Just because modern mobiles are not completely recyclable in their current form, it does not mean that consumers should ignore calls to sell their old handsets rather than hoarding them at home. The issue of e-waste must be dealt with as part of a concerted collaborative effort across the UK and around the world.
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