The push to reduce waste generation in the EU via recycling technology and extend the service life of Source: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KITproducts is undermined by electronic devices such as smartphones, which are discarded after a year or two of use. Component parts in these products are bonded instead of welded or riveted, complicating the recycling chain as disassembly often damages or destroys materials.

A detachable adhesive developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, may offer a materials solution to this residue recycling problem. Originally formulated for dental use, the thermolabile adhesive facilitates is easily removed. The smart material remains stable at room temperature and can be decomposed rapidly at comparably low temperatures. At predetermined breaking points in the network of long-chain polymer molecules, the chemicals open at moderate temperatures below 100° C and the adhesive disintegrates.

The patented reversible adhesive can be tailored in terms of composition and disintegration temperature for specific applications, such as to temporarily fix material on a workbench or on construction sites to remove dowels.