FMRG: Eco: Future Eco Manufacturing of Recyclable Soft Electronics

未来制造研究基金（FMRG） ecommanufacturing项目将在经济和环境生命周期评估的指导下，通过无缝整合一组选定的可生物降解/可回收材料和可持续制造工艺，实现可回收软电子产品的生态制造。电子设备数量的迅速增加，使用寿命的缩短带来了三个重要的挑战：(1)废旧电子设备产生的大量废物，(2)稀缺元素的快速消耗，以及(3)制造电子设备的巨大能源消耗。另一方面，软电子是一个新兴的领域。因此，该团队将开发新型软电子产品，这些电子产品由使用节能制造工艺的可再生材料制成，可以自然降解，也可以在使用寿命后重新用于高价值产品。该项目将汇集柔性/可拉伸电子学、聚合物化学、化学和材料工程、制造工程、可持续性和科学教育方面的研究人员。这个跨学科的融合项目将为培养多样化的未来工程师和科学家提供一个令人信服的基础。教育和劳动力发展工作将包括课程创新、教师专业发展、外联和学生实习，致力于增加劳动力的多样性。该项目分为五个重点领域，分别是材料开发、生态制造、生物降解/回收、环境和经济生命周期评估以及教育和劳动力发展。更具体地说，项目团队将设计增强纤维素复合材料作为衬底，新型共轭聚合物作为半导体，选择填料作为介电材料的复合材料，以及银纳米线网络作为导体。这项研究将解决开发可再生、可生物降解或可回收的高性能材料的挑战。它将产生一个可行的全印刷制造框架，使可持续软电子产品的可扩展制造成为可能。可扩展性将通过实验室规模的卷对卷系统进行演示。设备组件在其生命周期结束时将遵循三种途径-生物降解（回归自然），回收（回到制造业）或升级回收（转化为增值新材料）。该项目将把生物降解和材料循环纳入软电子产品的生命周期评估框架。这个未来制造项目由工程理事会的土木、机械和制造创新（CMMI）、电气、通信和网络系统（ECCS）、工程教育和中心（EEC）以及数学和物理科学理事会（MPS）的化学（CHE）和材料研究（DMR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Future Manufacturing Research Grant (FMRG) EcoManufacturing project will enable eco manufacturing of recyclable soft electronics by seamlessly integrating a select group of biodegradable/recyclable materials and sustainable manufacturing processes, guided by economic and environmental life-cycle assessment. The rapidly increasing number of electronic devices that have decreasing lifetime in use pose three important challenges: (1) a huge amount of waste from used electronics, (2) rapid consumption of scarce elements, and (3) enormous energy consumption for manufacturing electronic devices. On the other hand, soft electronics is an emerging field. Therefore, the team will develop new classes of soft electronics that are created from renewable materials using energy-efficient manufacturing processes, and that can either be degraded naturally or repurposed into high-value products after their lifetime. The project will bring together researchers in flexible/stretchable electronics, polymer chemistry, chemical and materials engineering, manufacturing engineering, sustainability, and science education. This interdisciplinary convergence project will provide a compelling basis to train a diverse cohort of future engineers and scientists. The education and workforce development efforts will include curriculum innovation, teacher professional development, outreach, and student internships, with a commitment to increasing the diversity in the workforce.This project is structured in five thrust areas addressing materials development, eco manufacturing, biodegradation/recycling, environmental and economic life-cycle assessment, and education and workforce development. More specifically, the project team will design reinforced cellulose composite as the substrate, new conjugated polymer as the semiconductor, composite with selected fillers as the dielectric, and silver nanowire network as the conductor. The research will address the challenges of developing high-performance materials that are renewable, biodegradable or recyclable. It will result in a viable all-printing-based manufacturing framework to enable the scalable fabrication of sustainable soft electronics. The scalability will be demonstrated with a laboratory-scale roll-to-roll system. The device components at their end of life will follow three routes – biodegradation (back to nature), recycling (back to manufacturing), or upcycling (converting to value-added new materials). The project will incorporate biodegradation and material circularity into the life-cycle assessment framework for soft electronics.This Future Manufacturing project is jointly funded by the Divisions of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), Electrical, Communication, and Cyber Systems (ECCS), and Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) in the Directorate of Engineering, and by the Divisions of Chemistry (CHE) and Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.