During this reporting period significant progress has been made in terms of collecting, analyzing and reinventing the use for nutritional foods.
Extensive research into current and emerging food and health trends in Europe has shown there is a growing demand for high-protein, gut-friendly, and sustainable food products, particularly those that support healthy aging. In response to these trends/needs, a functional food concept has been proposed: a prebiotic, fiber-rich, plant-protein-enhanced bar or smoothie formulated from sustainably grown, local crops. On the other hand, progress has been made by utilizing these nutri crops and plants, milling them into fine powder and fabricating substrates for electronic and sensoric purposes. These electronic components fabricated on edible nutri food-based substrates have high applicable potential. Aside from flexible substrates, which easily adhere to the human body, rigid substrates with mechanical characteristics comparable to that of FR4, have been developed out of food waste. These substrates, then can be used as a green and non-toxic alternative during printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication.
The previously presented achievements have been best described in joint publications from the EINSTEIN consortium, as they describe what is beyond the state of the art. Food waste-based substrates have been used as the base for LC structures and interdigitated capacitors, with their scaling being a possibility. They were completely electrically and mechanically characterized and it was shown that they can be used for detection of changes in the oral cavity. To further upgrade these structures, it is planned to change the conductive paths from gold to food waste-based edible materials.
Additionally, a comprehensive investigation into biodegradable organic electronic films made from bio-sourced materials, more precisely Sepia melanin-shellac inks onto silver-patterned paper, was carried out. The key contributions of this research in the field of edible electronics are the successful demonstration of electronic conduction via inter-granular melanin paths, protection against moisture by the shellac binder, and enhanced conductivity. The films exhibited strong biodegradability, achieving up to 97% mineralization into CO2 within 85 days under composting conditions. This work introduces, for the first time, the use of small bioreactors for composting electronic materials, and sets the stage for further exploration into microbial engineering, real-world composting, and life-cycle assessment of Sepia melanin extraction.
Furthermore, by utilizing food ingredients, more precisely spaghetti, completely edible solenoids have been fabricated and characterized. The solenoids exhibit inductance which is linearly dependent from the number of turns the coil has. The inductance of these solenoids is in nH scale, with little parasitic effects, shown by their phase angle. On top that, edible resonant circuits operating above 200 MHz were successfully demonstrated as a proof of principle, fully constructed by integrating edible gold foils with food-based materials.
