ASCENT: Reconfigurable Metal-Free Microsystems with Alternative Power Sources

This Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams (ASCENT) project will enable a suite of technologies for sustainable micro- and nano-electronics development. The emerging Internet-of-Things and efforts to realize a fully “connected” society and infrastructure requires the mass distribution of electronics, and to do this in a sustainable manner requires the development of eco-friendly electronic materials, circuits, and power sources.

The research team will investigate the materials, low-power circuits, and alternative power sources (i.e., non-battery to engineer reconfigurable-metal-free microsystems that can operate with alternative power sources). These systems will (i) be completely composed of carbon-based materials, (ii) be operated from a bio-derived power source, (iii) provide sustained recording of a local environmental metric and (iv) achieve complete biodegradation or recycling upon the end of their operational lifetime.

The combination of novel materials science, circuit design, and biofuel cells will enable the next-generation green electronics that can be mass produced at lower cost, at larger scales, distributed throughout our environment, and have minimal ecological impact, while achieving comparable performance when compared to silicon-based microsystems. The project’s multidisciplinary team is strategically set for integrating research with a plan for adding to the engineering curriculum, engaging with the local microelectronics industries, and supporting the national infrastructure and efforts for hybrid manufacturing of electronics.

Devices and micros and microsystems for the Internet-of-Things are supposed to be deployed everywhere and to be accessed anytime from anywhere. These simple prerequisites imply significant challenges for the sustainability of the production, distribution, and operation of Internet-of-Things electronics. Notably, the necessary quantity of a microsystem requires the mass use of non-sustainable materials and expensive manufacturing processes.

Moreover, the mass distribution of microsystems is tantamount to large scale pollution via electronics waster, if means for recapture, environmental integration, or recycling are not realized. In response to these challenges, this project will engineer sensing-communications nodes composed of metal-free, biodegradable materials, carbon-biological-organic-polymer devices and circuits, and enzymatic fuel cells.

Citric acid-based elastomers and cellulosic nanocomposites will be developed for biodegradable elastomeric circuit boards and packaging. Low-power sensors and circuits will be developed from carbon, biological, organic, and polymer-based devices. The sensing-communications node will include an array of organic electrochemical transistors distributed across the biodegradable circuit boards to perform continuous monitoring of humidity, temperature, pH, and volatile organic compounds.

The sensing-communications node will be powered by a modular biochemical fuel cell, which employs custom engineered direct electron transfer-type enzymes that convert eco-friendly fuel sources, e.g., glucose and lactate, to suitable electrical power. This completely metal-free sensing-communications node will be integrated, benchmarked against conventional commercial-off-the-shelf systems, and demonstrated in different simulated food storage and supply chain application scenarios.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.