Abstract
E-waste is the world's fastest growing waste stream and much of it is handled unsafely, causing pollution, human health hazards, and the loss of valuable finite resources. Improving the collection, treatment and recycling of e-waste is an utmost urban challenge. Urban mining offers ways to substantially improve e-waste management by chemical or physical processing (recovering rare-earth and high-value elements and safeguarding toxic compounds). Although this technology is currently available, there are few facilities active, as the high energy and performance costs form an obstacle. The main problem is that electronic devices are strongly physically integrated, so electronic components are extremely hard to detach and separate. Development of bio-gradable materials that enable controlled disassembly could be a game changing development in urban mining, drastically simplifying the separation and reuse/recycling of electronic components. NeCoBi aims to develop an new, safe, eco-friendly, conductive adhesive that enables easy disassembly of electronic devices into parts. The principal innovation is that the material is a bio-based adhesive. The technology is based on the recent discovery of highly conductive proteins in marine cable bacteria, which provides an entirely new platform for the creation of advanced green electronic materials. NeCoBi aims to tackle a critical R&D step in the development of the new conductive adhesive, by assessing its functional behavior under relevant conditions. To this end, we will combine advanced physical and electrical characterization, combined with detailed chemical modelling. As a proof of concept, we will develop a demo in collaboration with local maker communities. NeCoBi will hence provide a crucial step towards clean, non-expensive and reliable e-waste management, and thus could have societal, economic, and ecological impact.
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