Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DESIRE4EU (DESIgning and REcycling sustainable Electronic boards for a EUropean circular economy)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-09-01 al 2025-08-31
DESIRE4EU aims at proving the concept of a radically new sustainable approach to produce, use and recycle electronic printed circuit boards (PCB) that combine technical performance, economic and ecological efficiency throughout their life cycle.
The project’s vision is of sustainable, circular PCB manufactured in Europe using bio-based and biodegradable materials. It disrupts current paradigms and significantly reduces harmful waste, enabling fast and ecological copper recovery, above 70wt% of PCB ultimate waste elimination and 1-2% electronics sector CO2 emissions decrease by combining material science, green chemistry, electronics, environmental microbiology, Life Cycle and Value Chain Assessments.
Our holistic approach considers boards as a complete system and develops a proof of concept and guidelines for exemplary, fully circular sustainable electronics solutions contributing to European leadership, resilience, and independence. We envision a world-first by 2030: industrially credible, compliant, bio-based, rigid boards, with an innovative and environmentally friendly recycling process for critical metals. DESIRE4EU has 4 SMART specific objectives: (1) The complete assembly of a technology compliant bio-based multilayer PCB, (2) An environmentally friendly and time-efficient bioleaching process, (3) A circular by design approach, materialized by guidelines for further uptake, (4) An advanced, cost-effective but large proof of concept attracting 2000 – 5000 students, responsible citizens and industries, from learners to prosumers.
The consortium gathers 8 academic and private partners from 5 European countries, including 2 SMEs and 1 start- up. DESIRE4EU is managed by Grenoble INP-UGA, represented by Full Professor Pascal Xavier, who has extensive scientific and management experience. The partners expect at least 7 Open Access articles and 3 patents for this disruptive technology to be exploited in the field of class 2 rigid boards, with a potential market of €436 million.
The project’s vision is of sustainable, circular PCB manufactured in Europe using bio-based and biodegradable materials. It disrupts current paradigms and significantly reduces harmful waste, enabling fast and ecological copper recovery, above 70wt% of PCB ultimate waste elimination and 1-2% electronics sector CO2 emissions decrease by combining material science, green chemistry, electronics, environmental microbiology, Life Cycle and Value Chain Assessments.
Our holistic approach considers boards as a complete system and develops a proof of concept and guidelines for exemplary, fully circular sustainable electronics solutions contributing to European leadership, resilience, and independence. We envision a world-first by 2030: industrially credible, compliant, bio-based, rigid boards, with an innovative and environmentally friendly recycling process for critical metals. DESIRE4EU has 4 SMART specific objectives: (1) The complete assembly of a technology compliant bio-based multilayer PCB, (2) An environmentally friendly and time-efficient bioleaching process, (3) A circular by design approach, materialized by guidelines for further uptake, (4) An advanced, cost-effective but large proof of concept attracting 2000 – 5000 students, responsible citizens and industries, from learners to prosumers.
The consortium gathers 8 academic and private partners from 5 European countries, including 2 SMEs and 1 start- up. DESIRE4EU is managed by Grenoble INP-UGA, represented by Full Professor Pascal Xavier, who has extensive scientific and management experience. The partners expect at least 7 Open Access articles and 3 patents for this disruptive technology to be exploited in the field of class 2 rigid boards, with a potential market of €436 million.
Key results by Work Package (WP)
* WP1: Coordination and ethics
- Coordination:
Monthly consortium meetings.
Implementation of a Data Management Plan (DMP) and an Intellectual Property (IP) strategy.
Resilience: Management of an unexpected loss of a key scientific collaborator (MESH).
- Ethics :
Adoption of a code of ethics based on the Biomaterials Society, including: Respect for the environment and European society. Compliance with European and international laws. Transparency and responsible collaboration.
* WP2: Research and manufacturing of biobased PCBs
- Innovative substrate:
Substitution of fiberglass by flax and epoxy by PLA resin respectively.
Key properties: Permittivity: ~2.3 (vs 3.93 for FR4), suitable for RF applications. Fire resistance: UL94 V0 certification (PFAS-free). Water absorption: Reduced by 20-30% with linseed oil impregnation. Mechanical resistance: Improved with polyamide layers (peel strength of 3 N/mm vs. 1.5 N/mm for FR4).
- Manufacturing:
Adapted processes: Photolithography, drilling, metallization of holes.
Challenges: Managing burrs and PLA's low glass transition temperature (Tg).
Results: 100% laboratory yield for Arduino Uno/Nano prototypes.
Minimum track width: 0.25 mm.
Copper-copper spacing: 0.2 mm.
Vias: Diameter 0.4 mm, pad 0.8 mm.
* WP3: Circular design and bioleaching
- Design for recycling:
Onboard LoRa antenna and heat dissipation optimized for biosourced substrate.
Reduced use of copper and design for critical metal recovery.
- Bioleaching: Preliminary results are 96% copper recovered in 1 day at room temperature (on small samples). Optimization in progress for the adaptation of the microbial consortium to toxic leachates.
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Environmental impact of the PLA/Flax substrate reduced on some impacts (climate, toxicity) but larger on others (eutrophication, land use)in comparison with FR4.
* WP4 : Hardware development
"Gimli" prototype: Version 0.1: 2-layer PCB (43.18 x 17.80 mm), compatible with biosourced substrate. Version 0.2: Integration of a LoRa antenna and optimization for industrial production.
Tests: 100% functioning in laboratory.
* WP5: Communication and exploitation (see elsewhere)
* WP6: Synergies with the ReTronics portfolio
Exchanges with Elegance, GreenOMOrph + INFRACHIP projects.
Participation in summer schools were done and joint booth at LOPEC26 conference is planned.
Implementation of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for sensitive exchanges when necessary.
* WP1: Coordination and ethics
- Coordination:
Monthly consortium meetings.
Implementation of a Data Management Plan (DMP) and an Intellectual Property (IP) strategy.
Resilience: Management of an unexpected loss of a key scientific collaborator (MESH).
- Ethics :
Adoption of a code of ethics based on the Biomaterials Society, including: Respect for the environment and European society. Compliance with European and international laws. Transparency and responsible collaboration.
* WP2: Research and manufacturing of biobased PCBs
- Innovative substrate:
Substitution of fiberglass by flax and epoxy by PLA resin respectively.
Key properties: Permittivity: ~2.3 (vs 3.93 for FR4), suitable for RF applications. Fire resistance: UL94 V0 certification (PFAS-free). Water absorption: Reduced by 20-30% with linseed oil impregnation. Mechanical resistance: Improved with polyamide layers (peel strength of 3 N/mm vs. 1.5 N/mm for FR4).
- Manufacturing:
Adapted processes: Photolithography, drilling, metallization of holes.
Challenges: Managing burrs and PLA's low glass transition temperature (Tg).
Results: 100% laboratory yield for Arduino Uno/Nano prototypes.
Minimum track width: 0.25 mm.
Copper-copper spacing: 0.2 mm.
Vias: Diameter 0.4 mm, pad 0.8 mm.
* WP3: Circular design and bioleaching
- Design for recycling:
Onboard LoRa antenna and heat dissipation optimized for biosourced substrate.
Reduced use of copper and design for critical metal recovery.
- Bioleaching: Preliminary results are 96% copper recovered in 1 day at room temperature (on small samples). Optimization in progress for the adaptation of the microbial consortium to toxic leachates.
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Environmental impact of the PLA/Flax substrate reduced on some impacts (climate, toxicity) but larger on others (eutrophication, land use)in comparison with FR4.
* WP4 : Hardware development
"Gimli" prototype: Version 0.1: 2-layer PCB (43.18 x 17.80 mm), compatible with biosourced substrate. Version 0.2: Integration of a LoRa antenna and optimization for industrial production.
Tests: 100% functioning in laboratory.
* WP5: Communication and exploitation (see elsewhere)
* WP6: Synergies with the ReTronics portfolio
Exchanges with Elegance, GreenOMOrph + INFRACHIP projects.
Participation in summer schools were done and joint booth at LOPEC26 conference is planned.
Implementation of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for sensitive exchanges when necessary.
To our knowledge, our biocomposite ecofriendly PCB substrate fully compliant with existing industrial manufacturing equipement shows technical properties that doesn't exist yet on the market.
Its technical properties are close generally to FR1-FR2 and sometimes even exceeding FR4.
We began the process of patenting this technology.
Its technical properties are close generally to FR1-FR2 and sometimes even exceeding FR4.
We began the process of patenting this technology.