Kombucha Cultures Can Be Turned Into Flexible Electric Circuit Boards (arstechnica.com) 26
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Cheap, light, flexible, yet robust circuit boards are critical for wearable electronics, among other applications. In the future, those electronics might be printed on flexible circuits made out of bacterial cultures used to make the popular fermented black tea drink called kombucha, according to a recent paper posted to the arXiv preprint server. "Nowadays kombucha is emerging as a promising candidate to produce sustainable textiles to be used as eco-friendly bio wearables," co-author Andrew Adamatzky, of the University of the West of England in Bristol, old New Scientist. "We will see that dried -- and hopefully living -- kombucha mats will be incorporated in smart wearables that extend the functionality of clothes and gadgets. We propose to develop smart eco-wearables which are a convergence of dead and alive biological matter."
Adamatzky previously co-authored a 2021 paper demonstrating that living kombucha mats showed dynamic electrical activity and stimulating responses, as well as a paper last year describing the development of a bacterial reactive glove to serve as a living electronic sensing device. Inspired by the potential of kombucha mats for wearable electronics, he and his latest co-authors have now demonstrated that it's possible to print electronic circuits onto dried SCOBY mats. The team used commercially sourced kombucha bacteria to grow their mats, then air-dried the cultures on plastic or paper at room temperature. The mats don't tear easily and are not easily destroyed, even when immersed in water for several days. One of the test mats even survived oven temperatures up to 200 C (392 F), although the mats will burn when exposed to an open flame. Adamatzky et al. were able to print conductive polymer circuits onto the dried kombucha mats with an aerosol jet printer and also successfully tested an alternative method of 3D printing a circuit out of a conductive polyester/copper mix. They could even attach small LEDs to the circuits with an epoxy adhesive spiked with silver, which were still functioning after repeatedly being bent and stretched.
According to Adamatzky et al., unlike the living kombucha mats he worked with previously, the dried SCOBY mats are non-conductive, confining the electrical current to the printed circuit. The mats are also lighter, cheaper, and more flexible than the ceramic or plastic alternatives. Potential applications include wearable heart rate monitors, for instance, and other kombucha-based devices. "Future research will be concerned with printing advanced functional circuits, capable for detecting -- and maybe recognizing -- mechanical, optical, and chemical stimuli," the authors concluded.
Adamatzky previously co-authored a 2021 paper demonstrating that living kombucha mats showed dynamic electrical activity and stimulating responses, as well as a paper last year describing the development of a bacterial reactive glove to serve as a living electronic sensing device. Inspired by the potential of kombucha mats for wearable electronics, he and his latest co-authors have now demonstrated that it's possible to print electronic circuits onto dried SCOBY mats. The team used commercially sourced kombucha bacteria to grow their mats, then air-dried the cultures on plastic or paper at room temperature. The mats don't tear easily and are not easily destroyed, even when immersed in water for several days. One of the test mats even survived oven temperatures up to 200 C (392 F), although the mats will burn when exposed to an open flame. Adamatzky et al. were able to print conductive polymer circuits onto the dried kombucha mats with an aerosol jet printer and also successfully tested an alternative method of 3D printing a circuit out of a conductive polyester/copper mix. They could even attach small LEDs to the circuits with an epoxy adhesive spiked with silver, which were still functioning after repeatedly being bent and stretched.
According to Adamatzky et al., unlike the living kombucha mats he worked with previously, the dried SCOBY mats are non-conductive, confining the electrical current to the printed circuit. The mats are also lighter, cheaper, and more flexible than the ceramic or plastic alternatives. Potential applications include wearable heart rate monitors, for instance, and other kombucha-based devices. "Future research will be concerned with printing advanced functional circuits, capable for detecting -- and maybe recognizing -- mechanical, optical, and chemical stimuli," the authors concluded.
Kind of figured that (Score:5, Funny)
After I tried Kombucha some time ago, I realized it certainly was not for drinking - so it figures it's well suited to something else like electronics.
Re: Kind of figured that (Score:3)
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And he would know.
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After I tried Kombucha some time ago, I realized it certainly was not for drinking - so it figures it's well suited to something else like electronics.
Meanwhile, the alcoholics in the data center were thinking in the other direction...
(Manager) "Who the FUCK spent $20K on a 1,000-gallon distillery kit?"
(SysAdmin) "Oh, you mean the supercomputer?"
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Sure, in the same sense that wine is mouldy grape juice.
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Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I pour my kombucha very carefully so as not to drink the fines.
Neat! (Score:2)
I’ve heard of people using them to replace leather and making things like wallets, but they warp after getting wet.
SNL is prescient (Score:3)
"It's a floor wax and a dessert topping."
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Looks like someone is asking for a free pentest of their website. We'll publish the results here, ok?
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"It's a floor wax and a dessert topping."
That’s why titanium is my favorite food. It’s a fighter jet chassis and a desert topping (white sprinkles).
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Plastic is horrible for the environment because it lasts a long time.
Thats a lie spread by plastic companies. The truth is it starts degrading immediately and decomposes quickly from a useful state though it’s true it takes it a long time to completely break down. I’ve seen new in the box shoes only 5 years old, kept in the dark and at room temperature where the sole is cracked and rotting. Cars go bad with time because every shock absorbing joint, every seal, every gasket, every plastic and elastomer fails from degradation just sitting there. Get it exposed t
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The bushings and suspension on a garage kept 40 year car were just fine - the failures, and reason I finally gave up on it were the gaskets holding in the fluids. Specifically the transmission which probably used a cork (yes CORK) gasket for the transmission pan. Every failure over the years was from corrosion or simple wear - two radiators and a heater core pinholed long before any o
Anything can be turned (Score:2)