Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing pollution problems on the planet, and researchers at the University of Washington may have found a way to reduce it.
Their new liquid metal composite material, detailed in Advanced Functional Materials, can be recycled, reconfigured, and even self-healing, promising a future where circuit boards don’t end up in landfills.
The team, led by mechanical engineering professor Mohammad Malakooti, infused tiny droplets of gallium-based liquid metal into a stretchy polymer. When lightly scored, the droplets connect to form an electrical circuit, with no soldering or added components required. The result is a soft, flexible and fully functional alternative to the rigid fiberglass boards used in most electronics today.
“We created a lot of functionality in one material,” Malakooti said, according to UW News. “We are trying to make a difference now to shape the future of flexible and wearable electronics.”
The superpower of the material lies in what happens after use. When broken down chemically, the polymer releases the embedded metal, and up to 94% of it can be recovered for reuse. It also boasts self-healing abilities. Researchers have shown that a broken circuit can be pressed back together with heat and pressure and continue to function as if nothing had happened.
Malakooti’s lab has been exploring liquid metal-infused polymers since 2019, using machine learning to refine designs and find the sweet spot between flexibility and conductivity. But as the price of liquid metals has risen, the focus has shifted to reuse and sustainable design – a move that could transform consumer technology.
“We can’t make all these devices and then go back and try to figure out how to recycle them,” Malakooti said. “That’s how we ended up with the electronic waste problem we face today.”
According to the World Health Organization, in 2022, humans produced almost 62 million tons (almost 70 million tons) of electronic waste, a figure expected to keep rising without systemic change. By reimagining electronics as modular, repairable, and recyclable, innovations like this can help reverse that trajectory by cutting out toxic waste, conserving resources, and reducing the environmental toll of gadget manufacturing.
While the material is still in the research phase, the team hopes to soon be able to power next-generation wearables, soft robots, and flexible devices — all built to last, repair, and restart.
This breakthrough joins a wave of green technology advances that are reshaping design from the inside out, from biodegradable circuit boards to algae-based batteries. If scalable, this self-healing metal-polymer mixture could become one of the most promising elements of a truly circular electronic economy.
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