Advances in Biodegradable Electronic Materials for Wearable Devices

Authors

  • Sajad Hussain

    1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Comstats University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari 61100, Pakistan

  • Muhammad Sohail Abbas *

    2 CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystems and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China

    3 Department of Chemistry, University of Malakand, Chakdara 18800, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55121/nefm.v2i1.855

Keywords:

Biodegradable Electronics, Conductive Polymers, Transient Circuits, Green Power Sources, Wearable Devices

Abstract

The rapid expansion of wearable electronics has brought significant benefits to healthcare, fitness, and human–machine interaction, but it has also intensified concerns about sustainability and electronic waste. Biodegradable solutions have been an evolutionary concept whereby biodegradable devices can allow reliable functionality over their life cycle and then break down into non-toxic byproducts. This review features a survey of recent developments in three backbones of biodegradable wearable electronics, including conductive conveyance, ephemeral circuits, and environmentally friendly power sources. Conductive polymers, such as modified polyaniline, polypyrrole, or PEDOT-based polymer composites, have been optimized for both conductivity and controlled degradation, proving useful in flexible electronics and bioelectronic interfaces. Transient circuits have demonstrated the potential of functional systems designed to dissolve after use. They are relevant to medical implants and disposable environmental sensors, constructed from dissolvable substrates, biodegradable conductive materials, and resorbable encapsulants. In the meantime, advances in green power sources, such as biodegradable batteries, supercapacitors, and energy scavengers, have made it possible to develop autonomous wearable platforms. Despite these developments, issues of performance and degradation balance, system-level integration, and commercial viability at production scale persist. Moving forward, it will be essential that interdisciplinary research combines materials science, device engineering, environmental sustainability analysis, and regulatory models to achieve a truly visionary scenario of fully transient, green wearable electronics that foster technical innovation in line with environmental accountability.

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How to Cite

Hussain, S., & Abbas, M. S. (2023). Advances in Biodegradable Electronic Materials for Wearable Devices. New Environmentally-Friendly Materials, 2(1), 25–40. https://doi.org/10.55121/nefm.v2i1.855

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (November 2023)

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Article

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Copyright (c) 2023 Sajad Hussain, Muhammad Sohail Abbas

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.