Advances in Physicochemically Stimuli-Responsive Materials for On-Demand Transient Electronic Systems

Abstract

Transient electronics represents a class of technology defined by components that physically or chemically disintegrate, dissolve, or otherwise disappear in a controlled manner for application opportunities that lie outside of those that can be addressed with conventional, permanent devices. Materials and system designs that allow for initiation of the transient processes upon well-defined trigger events are of particular interest for uses in areas such as hardware-level data security, unrecoverable proprietary electronics, and certain classes of temporary biomedical implants. Progress relies on the development of advanced materials for this purpose and a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which they respond to various physicochemical stimuli. This review summarizes a diverse range of materials recently explored in this context, with responsiveness to changes in temperature, exposure to water, illumination with light, and delivery of electrical current. Subsequent sections present demonstrations of these materials as the basis for triggered transient devices with active operation. Strategies that exploit a cascade or a combination of triggering events represent important additional trends in this field of technology, laying the groundwork for a broad range of electronic devices with precisely controlled lifetimes.