Vitrimers for sustainable electronics and control of e-waste

Vitrimers offer an innovative approach to recycling polymer waste, crucial in addressing the environmental impact of electronic devices and circular economy. The increasing role of electronics in various industries has heightened concerns regarding material consumption, electronic waste, landfill costs, and energy usage. Vitrimers, as adaptable polymer networks, employ dynamic cross-linkages that activate bond exchange reactions under external stimuli, enabling topology rearrangements. These networks are instrumental in developing sustainable electronics, offering rehealability, shape memory, recyclability, and reprocessing capabilities. This review examines the latest research on vitrimers in sustainable materials for electronic devices, exploring various chemistries in vitrimer design and their impact on device properties. It highlights the potential of vitrimer topology rearrangement and exchange reactions in creating shape memory, self-healing, and recyclability properties. Additionally, the review categorizes vitrimer-based electronic devices, including triboelectric generators, wearable electronics, electro-skins, sensors, supercapacitors, electromagnetic shielding, soft actuators, flexible electronics, printed circuit boards, ionotronics, moisture generators, and thermoelectric devices. The article aims to foster further research on vitrimers in industrial applications, promoting the development of sustainable electronics.