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Plastic Circuits Designed To Enable Tough, Green Computers
DanS writes "Computerworld has an article about two Australian engineers who have invented 'Circuits in Plastic' technology. CIP designs aim to be more environmentally friendly than traditional circuits as they can be made from recycled plastic, don't contain any hazardous substances, and since packaging is part of the base circuit board, there is no need for additional packaging material. As an added bonus, different 3D shaped circuits can be made using CIP, which are also waterproof. No more ruining cell phones by getting them wet! The hope is that the technology will reduce the amount of toxic electronic waste in landfills, as even with lead-free technology, etching of existing printed circuit boards (and disposal of the chemicals) is a significant issue during manufacturing."
http://www.griffith.edu.au/engineering-information-technology/centre-wireless-monitoring-applications/research/circuits-in-plastic/cost-comparisons
Production costs â" Environmental Sensor $ per board 1000 units 10000 units
Standard PCB $10.12 $9.27
Lead-Free PCB $10.74 $9.90
Circuits in Plastic $9.82* $7.39*
Production costs â" Strain gauge circuit. $ per board 1000 units 10000 units
Standard PCB $18.00 $$13.00
Lead-Free PCB $19.10 $13.88
Circuits in Plastic $13.74* $9.18*
Seems to be cheaper, but seeing as this is the site belonging to the makers I'll give it a good amount of doubt for now.
Further, I'm not entirely sure how long these circuits can last? And also how they handle in high temperatures.
I was confused exactly how this would conduct but apparently it's more or less the same as normal PCBs.
All in all, interesting new tech that's a big step in the right direction.
See my point above about heat dissipation, encasing everything in plastic that is very poor conductor of heat is not an option.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2616421.htm
These guys were on a TV show called "The New Inventors" on ABC here in Australia. The functionality becomes limited at about 5 layers, at least that's what they said. The main concern is the size of the board, then again, you can use the board as the chassis without a worry with this tech.
It was interesting, but I don't see it in it's current form moving us ahead leaps and bounds. It's years from becoming usable I'd suspect.
If anybody is interested the two inventors of this technology where recently on the ABC's show "New Inventors". The episode they were in is here (mp4 format). Or you can probably find the clip which has only their invention here.
I had to go check and, yep, my current cell phone is completely encased in plastic. It would seem that thermal issues are not the problem you make them out to be. Is there some indication that these new plastics would somehow be less thermally conductive?
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
The Griffith university site has well over a dozen pages sparsely filled and with essentially zero technical information about this. Amazing.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
Hi, I too was bothered by the lack of detail. I found the following website http://www.techworld.com.au/article/310730/plastic_circuits_make_tougher_greener_computers And there there is a fleeting sentence: ---------------- The circuit board is a plastic sheet in which all components are placed in divots,â Thiel said. âoeThe conductor is screen-printed into a thin cover sheet which is then thermally bonded to the circuit board. --------------- I'm guessing the contact is by pressure. So you have the tracks, and you have the components, and you press the tracks onto the components, a bit like putting an IC onto a socket.