Delicious Electronics

Mmh! Delicious…electronics?!?!?!

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.

We need to keep our electronics out of the dump… Including medical devices. Can new sensors for measuring vital signs become environmentally friendly? And even more exciting… could they be … edible? What?!?

Enter Adel Aljarid and team from the University of Sussex. They developed biodegradable, food-based sensors.

These sensors are soft gels made of edible algae and water. This layer is mixed with graphene for structure. Graphene is a very thin carbon used to build airplanes and solar panels. 

Scientists showed these edible electronics measure pressure more precisely than standard sensors! It can even measure the pressure of a SINGLE RAIN DROPLET landing on its surface!

The researchers hope these sensors are sustainable and safer alternatives to current technology. These could one day be used as safe-to-eat sensors that monitor patients’ vital signs. Athletes could pop ‘em right before a game.

And… pew pew… they sound like a great source of fiber!


Reference 

Aljarid, A. A., Doty, K. L., Wei, C., Salvage, J. P., & Boland, C. S. (2023). Food-inspired, high-sensitivity piezoresistive graphene hydrogels. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 11(5), 1820-1827. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06101