Future high-efficiency computer chips could be made using honey; while supercapacitors could lower CO2 levels.
To reduce electronic waste, an Austrian science team has researched materials for printed circuit boards and found… mushrooms.
The dried skin of ganoderma fungus, for example, is not only thin and flexible but also acts as a good insulator and can withstand temperatures of around 200℃.
A test product is in the pipeline thanks to a new EU subsidy. If it can cool and insulate circuits as needed by the industry, and be produced at scale, then its potential is huge.
Instead of conventional, synthetic, hard-to-recycle base materials, the new biomaterial would decompose in the soil within weeks.
Meanwhile, others are developing ultra-efficient circuit architecture.
