Abstract
The rapid accumulation of electronic waste due to high consumption of electronics is a growing global concern. The development of sustainable electronics with both recyclability and desired properties is urgent to tackle this problem. However, existing open-loop recycling and closed-loop chemical recycling approaches suffer from either compromised performance of recycled materials or harsh recycling conditions. Here we develop a closed-loop bio-recyclable cellulose-based dielectric film for sustainable electronics. We combine a biomanufacturing strategy—aerosol-assisted biosynthesis—with specific enzymatic degradation to obtain closed-loop biological recyclability. The spontaneous behaviours of bacteria in aerosol-assisted biosynthesis and the artificial sandwich structural design synergistically impart the dielectric film with high tensile strength, a low dielectric constant and a low thermal expansion coefficient, enhancing its applicability. This work offers a viable approach to improve the circularity of electronics, paving the way to a more sustainable electronics industry.
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The data that support the findings of this study are provided within this article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the funding support from the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDB0450402, Q.-F.G.), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2021YFA0715700, S.-H.Y.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 22293044, S.-H.Y., 22105194, Q.-F.G., 92163130, Q.-F.G., and U21A2066, X.-G.L.), the Major Basic Research Project of Anhui Province (grant no. 2023z04020009, S.-H.Y.), Anhui Province Outstanding Youth Science Fund (grant no. 2408085J011, Q.-F.G.) and the New Cornerstone Investigator Program (S.-H.Y.). This work was partially carried out at the USTC Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication. We thank M. Li, S.-Q. Fu and H.-M. Zhou from the Instruments Center for Physical Science, University of Science and Technology of China for the help with the scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy characterization. We thank H.-T. Liu for X-ray microtomography.
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Y.-X.Z., Z.-M.H. and S.D. contributed equally to this work. S.-H.Y., Q.-F.G. and Y.-X.Z. conceived of the idea and designed the experiments. S.-H.Y. and Q.-F.G. supervised the project. Y.-X.Z., Z.-M.H., S.D., H.-B.Y., H.-C.L., W.-B.S., D.-H.L., K.-P.Y. and Q.-F.G. carried out the experiments, characterizations and analysis. S.D. and X.G.L. contributed to the FEM simulation and analysis. Y.-X.Z. contributed to the 3D illustrations. Y.-X.Z., Z.-M.H., S.D., Q.-F.G. and S.-H.Y. wrote the paper, and all authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.
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Nature Sustainability thanks Swee Ching Tan, Bozhi Tian and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 The structural characterizations of the GBs.
a, b, The polarizing microscope images with different magnifications of the GBs. The GBs exhibit a hollow structure. c, d, The SEM images with different magnifications of the GBs.
Extended Data Fig. 2 The aerobic cellulose- producing bacteria.
a, b, The SEM images of the upper (a, air-contacted) and bottom (b, culture medium-contacted) surface of BC-BC/GBs-BC aerogel with fixed bacteria.
Extended Data Fig. 3 The dielectric simulation results of cellulose-based dielectric film (corresponding to Fig. 4d1).
a, The illustration of the simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. b, The size distribution of the GBs in simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. c, d, Relative dielectric constant (c) and electric field norm (d) distributions of three random cross-sections parallel to the xz plane in a.
Extended Data Fig. 4 The dielectric simulation results of cellulose-based dielectric film (corresponding to Fig. 4d2).
a, The illustration of the simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. b, The size distribution of the GBs in simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. c, d, Relative dielectric constant (c) and electric field norm (d) distributions of three random cross-sections parallel to the xz plane in a.
Extended Data Fig. 5 The dielectric simulation results of cellulose-based dielectric film (corresponding to Fig. 4d3).
a, The illustration of the simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. b, The size distribution of the GBs in simulated cellulose-based dielectric film. c, d, Relative dielectric constant (c) and electric field norm (d) distributions of two random cross-sections parallel to the xz plane in a.
Extended Data Fig. 6 Calculated dielectric constant of the middle BC/GBs layer according to series capacitor model (corresponding to Fig. 4d).
The BC/GBs layers of different thicknesses possess almost equal dielectric constant.
Extended Data Fig. 7 The signal transmission performance stability of the electronics assembled on the cellulose-based dielectric film.
a, Comparison of the performance of the electronics before and after storing for about one year. b, Comparison of the performance of the electronics before and after storing in 75% humidity for 24 h. The dielectric film was hydrophobic treated with methyltrimethoxysilane. c, Comparison of the performance of the electronics before and after thermal shock.
Extended Data Fig. 8 The digital photo and properties of the recycled cellulose-based dielectric film.
a, b, The digital photo of the recycled cellulose-based dielectric film (a) and electronics (b). c, Comparison of the signal transmission performance of the original and recycled electronics. d, e, The dielectric constant (d) and dielectric loss (e) curves of the original and recycled cellulose-based dielectric film. f, g, Comparison of (f) thermal expansion and (g) thermal expansion coefficient of the original and recycled cellulose-based dielectric film. h, Tensile stress-strain curves of the original and recycled cellulose-based dielectric film. i, Comparison of the tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and toughness of the original and recycled cellulose-based dielectric film. All data with error bars are presented as mean value ± standard deviation, and n = 3 samples.
Extended Data Fig. 9 The contribution of the manufacturing process of the cellulose-based dielectric film to various environment impacts.
The upstream production of the GBs is the major contributor to impact categories.
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Supplementary text, Figs. 1–20 and Tables 1–5.
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Zhao, YX., Han, ZM., Ding, S. et al. Closed-loop bio-recyclable dielectric films for sustainable electronics. Nat Sustain 8, 1077–1086 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01606-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01606-9
