An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth University in the US have created circuit boards that liquify when placed in water, allowing for more effective recycling.
The boards were 3D printed using a water-soluble polymer for the structures, with hollow channels acting as interconnects that were filled with a liquid metal alloy composed of gallium and indium that remains a liquid at room temperature.
After populating the boards with electronic components, the channels were sealed with the same polymer.
When immersed in water, the polymer dissolves, releasing the liquid metal, which can be separated from the recovered components and reused.
The team also created a software tool to enable multi-layer circuit layouts to be converted for 3D printing.
