Researchers Have Developed New PCB Materials That Can Achieve Over 90% Raw Material Recovery

The University of Washington research and development team recently announced that it has successfully developed a new type of PCB called vPCB.

vPCB is made of Vitrimer-like polymer (Vitrimer) material, which has comparable electrical properties to traditional PCBS, while achieving a raw material recovery rate of over 90%.

 The left side is vPCB, the middle is glass fiber layer, and the right side is recycled vitreous polymer material. Photo source University of Washington official website, the samepicturebelow

Traditional PCBS are usually composed of glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin laminates covered with copper foil. After PCB waste, it is difficult to separate the epoxy resin from the glass fiber. This hinders the recycling of PCB materials and increases the difficulty of e-waste reuse.

The team at the University of Washington has successfully developed a vitreous polymer material. The material can replace the epoxy resin in the PCB, and at the same time, it can be converted into a jelly-like substance by a special solvent, which can be separated and recycled from the PCB.

 ▲ Vitreous polymer material removed with tweezers

The team claims to have achieved 98% recovery of vitreous polymer, 100% recovery of glass fiber and 91% recovery of solvent.

Less than a decade old, this class of vitreous polymers, first developed in 2015, have "dynamic covalent bonds" that reversibly crack and recombine when exposed to specific environments.

In addition to the ease of recycling, VPCBS using vitreous polymer-like polymers have other unique advantages: due to their reconfigurable properties, VPCBS that bend or crack can be repaired in specific environments.

The University of Washington said in a related article that the production of VPCBS does not require major adjustments to the PCB manufacturing process.