DEVELOPMENT AND RECYCLABILITY OF STAINLESS STEEL-BASED NATURAL CONDUCTIVE INK FOR SUSTAINABLE RFID TAG ANTENNAS

Due to developing economies and increasing fast consumption, products are constantly in motion globally, causing the need to monitor the products from production to sale and to keep track of their stocks regularly. At this point, smart technological products such as RFID tags make tracking easier and contribute to the smooth progress of business by containing product information. However, these tags, attached to almost every product, contain printed electronics and, therefore, valuable metals. These metals, thrown away after the product is purchased, cause e waste and environmental pollution. It may be possible to recycle these metals for reuse at the end of the tags' life. Therefore, in addition to the durability of the printed RFID tag antennas, recyclability also becomes important in sustainability. In this study, a natural conductive ink containing macroparticles of stainless steel and natural resin was developed. RFID tag antennas were printed by screen printing on PE-coated papers using this novel ink. The recycling of metals on the printed tags was studied using the deinking technique Ingede 11. Screen-printed tag antennas on paper were deinked, and the rates of metal particles remaining in paper residues and wastewater were determined. The results indicate that the metals' particle size and the interaction and adhesion of ink to paper are important for a successful deinking process in conductive inks