Biodegradable materials represent a promising path toward green and sustainable electronics
on a global scale in the future. Plastics play a pivotal role in contemporary electronics,
including printed circuit boards (PCB), where petroleum‐based polymers such as epoxies
form the base insulating substrate. In this review paper, several promising bio‐based
alternatives to conventional PCB materials that are recently developed and investigated
are stated and discussed regarding their properties, practical utilization, and further
perspective. The given list includes polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate (CA),
polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and others, with the development of PLA‐based PCB substrates
being the furthest along regarding the use in industry practice. Yet, all of the provided
solutions are still only suitable for prototypes or low‐cost electronics without high‐reliability
requirements. The reason for this is inferior mechanical and thermal properties of
biopolymers compared to traditional petroleum‐based polymers. Further development
is therefore essential, including new types of reinforcements and other additives.
However, as Life Cycle Assessment analyses discussed in the paper show, biopolymers
are capable of significantly reducing the environmental impact and are likely to play
a major role in shaping a sustainable path for the electronics industry, which will
be a key challenge in the current decade.
