Vitrimers for Electronics

The rapid growth of electronic waste (e-waste), driven by the short lifespan of consumer electronics and limited recyclability of conventional polymers, poses significant environmental and economic challenges. Vitrimers are well-known for their stimuli responsiveness, recyclability and reprocessing capabilities, presenting a promising solution to help reduce e-waste and improve material circularity. Due to the presence of dynamic covalent bonds, vitrimers can be healed without complete flow. In addition, vitrimers and their composites can be fully degraded and reconstructed to their original form. Hence, this enables the restoration and recycling of used or damaged electronics, potentially reducing e-waste. Due to their stimuli responsiveness, vitrimers can be strategically designed and combined to perform various functions such as humidity, position, strain, motion and fire sensors. Various challenges such as mechanical performance, biodegradability, environmentally friendliness, recycling efficiency must be tackled before we can see broader usability of vitrimer-based electronics in the market. In this chapter, we will highlight the advantages of using vitrimers in electronics and provide our perspectives on design strategies to enhance the use of vitrimers in the creation of high-performance sustainable electronics.