Queensland University of Technology resorts to coloured pigments to reduce e-waste

A team of researchers from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is working on turning coloured pigments into electronics and solving the growing e-waste issue. The researchers believe they could use an organic family of pigments called diketopyrrolopyrrole to produce electronics.

An advantage of using pigments with electronics is that they can be printed on a range of materials. According to QUT researchers, ‘flexible materials can become solar cells, transistors and sensors and used in many ways ranging from medical devices designed to be inserted into the body to technology products designed to break down rather than end up as more e-waste’.