July 28, 2022 by CIRCUITS DIY
In this article, we are going to discuss Eco-Friendly Printed Circuit Boards
Every living and non-living thing on this earth makes an impact on the surroundings or environment. For many years we are researching to make or create things that do not take a negative role to make the air or environment polluted, which's making many manufacturers try to produce eco-friendly printed circuit boards. According to our search, more than two billion printed circuit boards get wasted after their lifespan. And, as we know that copper and epoxy resin are used during manufacturing. Hence, the chemicals can be harmful to the environment. Also, the improper handling of those waste printed circuit boards becomes toxic to the surroundings.
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It is certainly impossible for manufacturers to make eco-friendly printed circuit boards. However, they can use some tips and tricks that may last long the life of PCBs. Consequently, it is possible to reduce the waste of printed boards and electronic devices by using different techniques.
Modular designs allow the replacement of the damaged parts of the board rather than wasting the entire board. Primarily, modular designs consist of multiple printed circuit boards. For example, in the double board modular designs, the SMD components are on one board and the wire-to-board connectors are on the other board. So, if one part of the PCB gets damaged, it can easily be replaced. These designs just not only help to make repairing accessible to any part but also the chances of damage are quite low than other PCBs.
Manufacturing PCBs that protect their components from sudden damage can also help. When we are talking about eco-friendly PCBs, we cannot deny the fact that even the most environmentally friendly boards use chemicals in the manufacturing, fabrication, and etching process. Therefore, it is necessary to make servable Printed circuit boards. Use such tools that provide surge protection of the components by themselves on the boards. Use such tools that allow safe repairing.
As we have discussed earlier that we do not disavow the fact that every PCB uses chemicals in its manufacturing process and it is relatively impossible to make the boards without those environmentally harmful chemicals. But, we can make reliable PCBs that are more durable and have more life span. So, the annual rate of wastage of electronic devices and printed circuit boards may decrease. For this, manufacturers should avoid the use of cheap substitutes like epoxies and phenolics because they cannot tolerate the high heat generated by the electronic circuits.
According to our search, we have discerned that manufacturers are trying to make biodegradable boards in the future. And, in those boards, the metal conductors may be replaced by the water-soluble metallic paste, comprised of zinc and tungsten. hence, this may generate promising environmentally friendly printed circuit boards. If this happens, the negative effect of printed circuit boards on the environment would highly get reduced. Till then, we can rely on the above-mentioned techniques to make durable PCBs.
