Computer chips will be made from mushrooms instead of plastic in electronic devices

A new discovery by scientists

Scientists will replace plastic with biodegradable material

New delhi date. 27 November 2022 Sunday

The problem of plastic waste is increasing all over the world. Along with this, electronic waste is also increasing. Both are related to each other. Computer chips and batteries used in many electronic devices use plastics that cannot be recycled. But, now scientists have found a way to replace this plastic with biodegradable material.

In new research published in the journal Science Advances, scientists at Johannes Kepler University in Austria have created an electronic substrate from the skin of a mushroom. The base layer of the circuit is called the substrate. It cools and insulates metals that transfer electricity. Ganoderma lucidum mushroom is a type of fungus. which grows on decaying trees in Europe and East Asia.

The researchers involved in the study, Doris Deininger and Roland Prakner, found that the mushroom forms a skin made of root-like network mycelium to protect its growth. Scientists wanted to dry this skin and use it instead of plastic. In the research, the skin of the mushroom was removed and dried. Researchers found that it is viscous and a good insulator. It also works well in electrical circuits and easily tolerates temperatures up to 200 °C.

Scientists said that the mushrooms from those trees will be useful in making computer chips, which become completely useless. Circuits made of it can now be incorporated into such electronic devices. which do not last long. These include sensors and radio tags. Because of the mushroom skin, they can also be recycled.