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."

Comments

Re:switching is going to be a real bitch

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:When can I start placing orders?

[sortius_nod]

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.

The inventors were on Australian television

[Biogenesis]

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.